AC Milan will welcome Spezia to San Siro tonight looking to get back to winning ways in Serie A after the midweek victory over Red Bull Salzburg.
The outcome of the game will be heavily influenced by a number of key battles that will take place across the park, starting with the one between Matteo Gabbia and M’Bala Nzola. Nzola is without a doubt Spezia’s main man at the moment as the striker has five goals to his name, while the next-top scorer is one two goals. Gabbia is coming in for Simon Kjaer and will be called upon to try and keep a clean sheet after a difficult night in Turin last weekend.
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At the other end, the duel between Divock Origi and Jakub Kiwior will be fascinating for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Belgian will be aiming for another goal in a start at San Siro after he got one against Monza, and he will face a centre-back in Kiwior who is actually on Milan’s wish list as per reports, so tonight could be an audition of sorts.
Rafael Leão seems to like playing against Spezia given they are the team against whom he has scored the most Serie A goals (3), while he has 15 goal contributions in 17 games across all competitions this season making him the main threat without a doubt. He will mostly square off against Ethan Ampadu, a 22-year-old Wales international on loan from Chelsea.
Sticking with Milan’s attack, Brahim Diaz is currently tipped to start and he would have a double responsibility facing Albin Ekdal, who is expected to shake off a minor injury. The Spaniard will look to cause issues between the lines, dragging the Swede out of position, and of course aiming to follow up his good recent run at home which featured a goal against Juventus and a brace against Monza in the last month. Ekdal also plays an important role in Spezia’s build-up so his influence will have to be limited.
Finally, we end with another duel on the flan, this time between left-back Theo Hernandez and Spezia’s right wing-back Emil Holm. The Frenchman was at his best against Salzburg in midweek and will look to continue that form – possibly going one better than hitting the post this time as he did against the Austrians – but Holm will look to get forward and build on his two goal contributions.
