AC Milan will go into the derby on Saturday night with only one real certainty known at this point regarding their line-up, and that is the starting formation.
According to MilanNews, head coach Stefano Pioli will not abandon the 4-2-3-1 system that has served him well so far, but one of his major doubts is about who he should play as the attacking midfielder. He is ‘seriously weighing up’ playing Franck Kessie in that position, because Brahim Diaz is not going through the best period of form.
Not only that, but Kessie brings plenty of his own merits. He has the physicality, the size and intensity to really disrupt Marcelo Brozovic, who is the lynchpin of Simone Inzaghi’s Inter and a player that deserves special attention.
Ismael Bennacer and Sandro Tonali are in good form and rhythm, so they could both be inserted into the line-up if Pioli does field Kessie as the No.10. Meanwhile, Kessie himself is back in excellent shape after the Africa Cup of Nations.
It is still early to say with certainty whether Pioli will use Kessie behind the striker, but the feeling is that the coach will try it concretely in the sessions between now and Saturday, because with Tonali, Bennacer and Kessie on the pitch all together they would have a better chance of matching Inter for physicality.
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