Winning is the only option for AC Milan tonight as they look to close out 2023 in the right way at San Siro, but they face a real bogey side in Sassuolo.
Milan have played the Neroverdi 21 times across all competitions in their history, winning 11 but losing seven, with three draws. What is most surprising is that the Rossoneri are winless in four consecutive home games against tonight’s opponents, with three defeats in a row including last season’s 2-5.
The game tonight will feature some interesting battles, starting on Milan’s left side where Theo Hernandez is expected to be named as the centre-back again given that Pierre Kalulu, Malick Thiaw and now also Fikayo Tomori are all out.
He will face Domenico Berardi who will start on the right wing for Sassuolo but loves to come infield. He has amassed 11 goals and seven assists against Milan in Serie A (18 goal involvements overall) making him a real nemesis that Theo will have to tame.
Switching to Milan’s attack, Rafael Leao simply must show up given that he has now gone three months without a home league goal at San Siro. That was against Hellas Verona, and while nights like the PSG performance still stand out, the squad’s top earner has to pull his weight more.
He will face Jeremy Toljan, a full-back who has now been with Sassuolo for four years and continues to be relied upon no matter who is in charge. The former Dortmund man has been good going forward this season, with five assists to his name.
In the midfield, Ismael Bennacer is tipped to get the start at the base of the midfield three for the Rossoneri in what could well be his last appearance before leaving for the African Cup of Nations, given Algeria have called him up.
If the predicted line-ups are right, he will be up against Nedim Bajrami, a playmaker who was actually linked with a move to Milan when he was at Empoli. He has just one league goal in 14 games this season, but did score against the Rossoneri in 2022-23 at his old club.
Olivier Giroud is without a home league goal since the 4-1 win over Torino back in August, but there is some hope: he averages a goal every 78 minutes against Sassuolo (three goals overall), his best minutes/goals average against any opponent in Serie A.
The Frenchman will battle with another player who was linked with Milan in the past: Martin Erlic. The Croatian defender made the switch to Reggio-Emilia from Spezia and has established himself as a starter. The 25-year-old is a physical, no-nonsense centre-half and will be up for the scrap.
Finally, there will be an interesting contest between Tijjani Reijnders and Kristian Thorstvedt on the left side of Milan’s midfield. The Dutchman has become virtually undroppable for Pioli, and is often the metronome for how creative and threatening the team are.
His opposite number tends to play in a double pivot but the Norwegian likes to get forward, as shown by the three goals he has already scored this season.
Berardi’s the real nemesis. Remember not to let him control the ball comfortably, he’s like lautaro of the merda 😀 Theo must prove him self to be one of the best LB in the world again.
Theo gonna make penalty against Berardi.
Theo doesn’t use to play CB, in my opinion Simic will be better choice