AC Milan will welcome Chelsea to San Siro tonight with a double mission in mind: getting revenge for the disappointing 3-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge last week and taking a step towards the Champions League knockout stages.
Stefano Pioli’s men will have to be far better than they were in London in order to get a result against a Graham Potter side that have now won three in a row, and while Theo Hernandez is back and the team come into the game off the back of a 2-0 win over Juventus, there are still plenty of injury problems.
We spoke to Will Faulks of TalkChelsea to get all the insight from their camp in view of tonight’s game at the Meazza…
What is the general feeling surrounding Chelsea at the moment after Tuchel’s sacking and the first few games under Potter?
“There was a very bad feeling at first – Tuchel was still very popular – and the first couple of games under Potter weren’t great. But now we’ve won 3 in a row, there’s a sudden surge of positive energy and it feels like the whole squad are pushing to impress the new manager. Tonight is the real test though!”
What has the reaction been like after last week’s game at Stamford Bridge, where Milan were far from their best?
“Even with a lot of injuries Milan are a top team with so much pedigree, so beating them was very important, especially for Potter as he looks to establish himself in the Champions League against the big sides. There was a very positive reaction to the performance and the game – even though everyone knew Milan weren’t at full strength and played poorly after a good start.”
Who do you see as being the main threats for Milan, and what will the main battles be in the return fixture?
We know there’s plenty of quality in the Milan team, but even in a bad game overall Rafael Leao showed how dangerous he is. There was always the feeling that he was going to score from nothing and turn the game on its head. There were nerves in the stadium every time he got the ball. Thankfully we have Reece James up against him, or we’d be a lot more concerned…”
Given the good relations between the owners of the two clubs, do you see more transfer business being done in the future? Names like Leao, Ziyech, Broja and most recently Loftus-Cheek have been mentioned.
“We’d hate to lose Loftus-Cheek now, but certainly the good relations have been good and have benefited us both in recent times. We expect Ziyech will make the move eventually if there’s room in your squad for him, and we can see him doing well in Serie A. Ruben could thrive too, but at the moment he’s playing regularly and if that carries on, he won’t be going anywhere.”
How do you see Chelsea lining up for the game and are there any injuries?
“Ziyech, N’Golo Kante and Wesley Fofana are all out. It’s hard to say how they will line up as Potter picked two different teams for the two games last week. We expect a very similar side to the one that played you before, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling coming back into the team, in a shape with a proper back 3 rather than a sort of hybrid back 4 which we used at the weekend.
“It should be a much more even game, and there should be a great atmosphere. We can’t wait!”
