AC Milan will face a tough early season test tonight at the Gewiss Stadium as they take on their Lombardy neighbours and rivals Atalanta.
After a 4-2 win against Udinese to start the Scudetto defence in the right way, a tricky evening in Bergamo will require Stefano Pioli’s side to demonstrate a bit more defensive resilience while maintaining the attacking threat that helped Ante Rebic and Brahim Diaz shine.
You can read our pre-match preview here, as well as the best stats ahead of the game here, and below we have picked out the battles that will win and lose the game for either side.
Starting with the Rossoneri’s front line, Ante Rebic will be hoping to follow up an excellent brace against Udinese last weekend with another effective display. He is likely to be up against Caleb Okoli – a talented Italy U21 international – who will try to match his movement and will not be afraid of following him wide. However, he is still inexperienced at this level and the Croatian will look to use all of his experience to cause chaos.
Rafael Leao was somewhat subdued in the win against Udinese as he was often double teamed (creating space for the other forwards), but he will be aiming to add to the goal he scored in the 3-2 win at the Gewiss Stadium last season. Rafael Toloi will aim to stop him, with the 31-year-old now in his seventh season in Italy.
In the middle of the park, Sandro Tonali returns after recovering from a muscle issue and will have the dual task of pressing as high as possible to put the double pivot under pressure (think of his goal to make it 2-0 at the same stadium last season) while also keeping tabs on the dangerous Mario Pasalic. Milan know the Croatian well after his loan spell in 2015-16, and he operates in behind the front two under Gasperini.
Speaking of threat for Atalanta, Duvan Zapata will be looking to put Pierre Kalulu in trouble. The 31-year-old striker has 79 goals in 163 games for La Dea so he will give the much less experienced Frenchman a tough examination, while Tomori aims to keep Lookman or Muriel quiet.
As a final note, Brahim Diaz must pick up where he left off after getting a goal and an assist in the win in round one. With Charles De Ketelaere and Yacine Adli to provide competition another effective performance will be needed, though another well-seasoned Serie A player in Marten De Roon will try to pin him.
Atleast malinovskiy shouldn’t play since he should be leaving
Forget that, for some odd reason he’s playing nonetheless