AC Milan will face Cremonese tonight at San Siro looking to return to winning ways after Saturday’s draw against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
The result in the capital coupled with the fact both Juventus and Lazio dropped points while Inter and Atalanta won means that the top four race is now as tight as it has been all season, with six games left to try and book a place in the Champions League but a semi-final in that competition to try and juggle too.
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The match against Cremonese will be heavily influenced by a few key battles, starting with the one between Divock Origi and Luka Lochoshvili. Things have not gone to plan for the Belgian forward so far as he has netted just twice since his arrival with time running out to prove he deserves to stay for next season, and he will face Lochoshvili, a 24-year-old Georgia international.
Another Belgian looking to convince Pioli will be Charles De Ketelaere, and it is likely that Soualiho Meite will be tasked with limiting his influence at the base of the midfield. De Ketelaere is still looking for his first Milan goal, while Meite will be after a bit of revenge after he failed to convince the Rossoneri to sign him permanently after his six months on loan in 2020-21.
Moving to the other end, David Okereke has already scored twice against Inter this season, both in the home and away games for the Grigiorossi. Malick Thiaw should be his opponent with the German U21 captain tipped to step in for the suspended Fikayo Tomori having dropped out of the ‘first choice’ line-up recently, so he will look to send a message to Pioli too.
Pablo Galdames is the man expected to start as the playmaker for Cremonese tonight, and Ismael Bennacer will try to stop him getting his first goal contribution of the season. Perhaps more important than that will be trying to ensure that Milan’s build-up play can flow a bit better given they have been more direct in recent weeks due to the Algerian being further forward.
