Rafael Leao and Christopher Nkunku will be the men to lead the line tonight at the Sinigaglia against Como, a report claims.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport report, after training with the group on Tuesday, Leao didn’t feel (much) discomfort in his right adductor and groin yesterday afternoon. Therefore, the Portuguese will be the focal point for the attack against Como.
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Who will play alongside him? Nkunku is favoured over Christian Pulisic. All of the attacking options are not at their best physically with various issues troubling them, so Allegri must manage their energy to avoid overload and injury.
Rafa and Chris
The ‘starting’ duo of Pulisic and Leao will not play this time either. Since the start of the season, the two have only been used together three times: in Milan-Bari on August 17th, in the derby on November 23rd, and in Milan-Genoa on January 8th.
Pulisic played the entirety of the last two games against Genoa and Fiorentina, and since the hamstring injury he injured against the US in October occasionally makes itself felt, Max doesn’t want to risk losing him for a long time.
This is also because Lecce visit San Siro on Sunday, and then there is the away match against Roma on the 25th. The idea is to throw Captain America into the mix in the second half, as happened in Cagliari. Allegri certainly hopes to have both Pulisic and Rafa back in top form soon.
Since the preseason friendlies in the summer, the coach earmarked the Portuguese and the American as his first choice duo, and he doesn’t like this infirmary rotation, or at least this part-time use of the two.
Midfield and defence
The other regulars return: in defence, ahead of Mike Maignan, Fikayo Tomori has served his suspension and will resume his spot on the right of the back three, with Matteo Gabbia in the middle and Koni De Winter replacing the injured Strahinja Pavlovic.
The Serbian is a tough character and wanted to be available, but the blow to the head he got in Florence was severe and, combined with nine stitches, he’s not at his best. It remains to be seen whether he’ll be fit for Sunday’s match against Lecce. Davide Odogu and the youngster Matteo Dutu will be on the bench.
Luka Modric, Adrien Rabiot and Davide Bartesaghi return to the midfield line in place of Samuele Ricci, Ardon Jashari and Pervis Estupinan , who were used on Sunday at the Franchi. Youssouf Fofana was tested yesterday at the right midfielder position, and so is ahead of Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Leao hasn’t looked physically fit but still plays.
He is not able to run in full speed as it seems during the games.
Hopefully he can tonight.
Based on his (lack of) movement since being 1 month out, I’d say he’s far from “running in full speed”. I seriously doubt he’ll be in 100% fit this season at all as he doesn’t get proper rest to heal his injuries.
Hope I’m wrong but he looks far from being fit.
This is exactly it.
He definitely does not look fit
Not sure why Max is sitting Chris out if it’s true. After the misses in the last game Chris would be the one motivated to do better this time around. If Fulkrug must start on the bench, I’d start Pulisic and Nkunku.
I bet it’s because he’s planning on resting Leao against Lecce. I bet it’s Pulisic and Fullkrug against Lecce, and then Leao and Pulisic against Roma.
CP was absolutely gassed at the end of last match. He could get nowhere near top speed. but I wish he was starting tonight. He creates offense and lives to score. always bounces back.
…that said, Nkunku deserves to build up some momentum.
That went well after all. And I’d prefer Pulisic to rest a match every now & then than see him getting injured.
Yeah, three games in seven days is tough on a roster. We got very lucky to pull out a win here, but our bench seems less and less deep each game. Hopefully we’ll have a strong start next week.