AC Milan will be up against Napoli on Tuesday evening and due to some heavy absences, Paulo Fonseca will be forced to some starting XI changes. So, how could the Rossoneri line up for the game?
Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders are both suspended and will thus miss out, while it was confirmed today that Matteo Gabbia is struggling with an injury. Tammy Abraham and Luka Jovic, meanwhile, are both training individually.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
In defence, Davide Calabria has recovered and could get the chance from start, especially since Emerson Royal has played a lot lately. Fikayo Tomori seems to be the only certain centre-back, while Malick Thiaw and Strahinja Pavlovic will battle it out for the next spot.
Further up the pitch, Youssouf Fofana is certain to start and it seems like Yunus Musah will accompany him in the tandem. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is also battling out for a starting spot but if he were to get the nod, it will most likely be in the No.10 role.
Finally, Noah Okafor is in much better form than Rafael Leao but the latter is keen on getting a starting spot. Christian Pulisic and Alvaro Morata are certain to start, while Samuel Chukwueze is going up against Loftus-Cheek.
The battles: Calabria-Emerson, Thiaw-Pavlovic, Loftus-Cheek-Chukwueze, Okafor-Leao.
Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Terracciano; Fofana, Musah; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Morata.
I disagree this madness Loftus cheek can’t cope against dangerous Napoli they’re informed we can’t afford to lose that match, in view let musah play as the natural No 10 as attacking midfield then second half around 60 minutes will sub pulisic for Loftus cheek then thiaw and bartasaghi should play central defence then Jimenez left back then terraciano and Fofana should play double pivot
I think you just want milan to lose with this silly line-up of yours..
No experiment here bro
RLC is a premier league winner and scored 10 goals in his first season.
Musah came from mid-table Valencia and has never put in a convincing performance.
But hey #RLCOut and #MusahMisunderstoodGenius are trending.
Neither Musah or RLC are any good at the 10.
Musah is actually pretty decent told to just play a restricted role as a central defensive midfielder – his defense is pretty good, and as long as he doesn’t have to think too hard about who to pass to, he’s fine.
He generally gets confused when asked to play box to box and just runs around without purpose. When he is put out wide as a wide midfielder he does that PLUS he generally disappears, isolated from the rest of the team.
So, recommend Musah and Fofana as a double pivot. Napoli can be very deadly on the counterattack, and whoever is playing as the right/left fullback will need help up the middle running back. Both Musah and Fofana can do that.
Okafor tends to play better as a super sub.
I would start Leao. Leao actually didn’t play that bad in the last game, he was just very unlucky compared to Okafor with the results.
Chuk deserves a start with Pulisic playing as the 10.
It will be OK because Fofana and Musah will be behind him in defense in a double pivot.
Morata at the top.
Calabria vs. Royal? Dunno. Both have their defensive weaknesses.
Terraciano has done ok.
Pavlocic would be good for dealing with the massive blubber butt sumo wrestler that is Lukaku.
Thiaw vs. Tomori? Dunno, maybe the Good Tomori will finally show up?
So, a 4-2-1-2-1, almost a 4-3-3.
It’s the only way to win this match.
RLC just has had way too many games where he is totally useless, at both offense and defense. He CANNOT play as a 10. Totally useless at that spot. He has done nothing to deserve another start in this critical match.
What are you basing any of your assessments off?
Your opinion or what’s actually occurred in real life?
RLC scored 10 goals and set up another load with dummy runs from AM last season.
That’s not my opinion but recorded historical fact.
I’ve never seen Musah do much defensively but he’ll get his chance against Napoli.
Fofana has yet to prove himself at DM for Milan despite everyone’s insistence he’s an instant success. He needs to do better at sitting and holding.
Leao is a champion and there should be no question.
Same with Calabria.
I don’t know what defensive weaknesses you’re referring to or whether your expectations are that there’s some enigmatic FB out there who has never been beaten or conceded a cross.
Pavlovic is again some random signing from some lower league that has yet to prove himself for Milan. So for Milan he’s mostly been a liability.
Tomori. Proven champion for Milan.
Thiaw not.
Loftus wasn’t good as a attacking midfielder yes he bagged 10 goals but besides that what else did he do as an ATTACKING MIDFIELDER absolutely nothing
Tomori proven champion? – You are living in the past dear fellow. He hasn’t been right for a couple of seasons. RLC is too inconsistent; bench only…
Barteshagi can’t play as cb guy
You seem to underestimate what an achievement it is to score 10 goals from midfield.
He also made numerous runs forwards that created space especially for Giroud.
He also won free kicks and had match winning performances including against PSG.
He contributed more than any of other signings bar Pulisic.
Okafor and chukwueze are the best thank u
I know Leao is not in from right now, but I would love to see him start. If he fail to do job well, then he should be subbed early in the second half.
Likewise, Lotus Cheek should start as 10 and then introduce Okafor and Chukwueze in the second half.
Musa should play next to Fofana from the start. He will help in covering up for Teraciano while Pulisic will help to cover for Emerson Royal.
Our reliable Fofana will shield the central defence. This will give a balanced team.
Play Okafor as top 9 then Morata as 10, then play Pulisic & Leao at the wings.
Fofana & Musah as double pivot.
Then, Terra, Thiaw, Tomori & Calabria
I like it.
The 10 will have to come deep. Reijnders is key to build up and Theo is second most important. Musah is good in build up but he has no Theo and no minutes played with Morata or fofana. Pulisic has the engine to come deep to help with build up and then get up field. (He has done it this season) so I’d expect to see him as a 8-10 role…or we the coach may just decide to not play with possession.
Reijnders doesn’t do much in build up which is why we keep getting stuck in our half when he plays.
It’ll be interesting to see if we can get out of our half, or heaven forbid control midfield, without him. Big chance for Musah.
Theo bypasses the midfield so he’s a big loss.
Reijnders is the only player in the middle of the field between the lines in most games…unless pulisic drops in from the wing…depends where the confrontation starts, but its 3 in the back. the fullbacks high, RLC doing his thing and reijnders is on his bike for 90 min finding gaps…this will not be a game for anyone to look good (limited possession) but musahs always good for taking it off someone and sending leao in on a 1v1 or pulisic but usually leao…
Between what lines?
He doesn’t offer himself enough to our defence and then gets too close to the opposition defence which is why we struggle to get out of our half or control midfield. He also doesn’t make good runs forward beyond the attack thus he’s scored relatively few goals (many of his misses are from outside the box).
RLC takes up far better positions: he offers himself up to defence, drifts wide to receive the ball in the transition or turns and makes a run forward, and he also makes better runs passed the front man (thus all his goals).
The whole Reijnders is awesome and RLC is a failure is just more trending-type opinions than reality.
Like those influencers who invent an alternative reality.
the first line of defense and the second. He connects the defense to the offense…when he is played at the 10, there is an immediate impact on the build up. His job isn’t to score goals. The goal logs from last season include one name (Leao) more often than Reijnders.
It also isn’t last season. RLC is set up in a different position. Last season it was as a second striker, a runner in the box. This season with the wingers coming inside, hes struggling because its more combo play… The positioning is intentional…its like a 6, 8, 10…Their defense is both subpar. RLC isn’t a failure. He just has a lot of times where he disappears from the game. Reijnders is gunna be hard to keep for long…