AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri will once again make quite a lot of obligatory choices in terms of the line-up against Pisa.
Milan battled an injury crisis to get all three points against Fiorentina. Christian Pulisic, Adrien Rabiot, Christopher Nkunku, Pervis Estupinan, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ardon Jashari all missed out due to various issues, meaning only seven players were named on the bench.
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Allegri was hoping to have a couple of players back, but there is only one good bit of positive news in the build-up to tomorrow’s game. Christopher Nkunku returned to full training with the rest of the squad on Wednesday and will be on the bench.
AC Milan’s predicted XI vs. Pisa
According to Sky, the big news is that Allegri will make a change to the three-man defence that has been very solid since the start of the season. Fikayo Tomori will be rested, as Koni De Winter should get a first start alongside Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic.
Alexis Saelemaekers will move back to his right wing-back role as Santiago Gimenez partners Rafael Leao up front. Davide Bartesaghi will be the other wing-back, with a midfield trio of Youssouf Fofana, Luka Modric and Samuele Ricci from right to left.
Just like against La Viola, the bench will be threadbare with Tomori and Nkunku the only senior outfield players. Loftus-Cheek remains sidelined with muscle discomfort.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; De Winter, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modric, Ricci, Bartesaghi; Gimenez, Leao.
Predicted bench: Terracciano, Pittarella, Tomori, Odogu, Athekame, Sala, Balentien, Nkunku.
Injuries and suspensions: Jashari, Rabiot, Pulisic, Estupinan, Loftus-Cheek.
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I’m putting my money on Santi to score, now woth Leao back
I put money on Santi and Leao to score 😉
I would prefer to see Ricci at the base of midfield given our injury situation.
It is his natural position and he looked superb there in pre-season
Modric is more experienced and spent most of his career as a mezzala, so it is less of a burden for him to change positions.
Once we have Rabiot back it’s a different conversation but for now it would get the best out of the options available.
Much like playing Salaemakers RWB and playing Leao off Gimi.
When low on options at least try and field players in their best positions. The last game proved this when we were a much better unit after bringing on Gimi and putting players back in their best positions
Agreed. Would be interesting to see Modric as a mezzala and with more ball closer to the offensive third.
Pisa wont press the regista, so it wont be a tough test for Ricci in terms of possession play. They will lay very low and then we need Modric creativity higher up in the pitch.
Yeah thats a good analysis . Modric is great at those final balls in tight spaces
Our bench is sad
Milan youth team sucks. Inter, Juventus and Atalanta have better quality youth players than Milan. That’s the problem.
Milan have 2 academy players in our best 11 right now, that’s more than any of the top 6 teams in Italy. Some of the best individual Italian players at youth level are also Milan youth. The only reason the youth teams perform worse than others is because we field way younger starting 11’s but that will benefit us in the long run.
Don’t forget about Carmada. He’s out on loan but is one of the stars of the U-21 National team.
Five injured first team players of which three are starters is sad.
Seeing Modric sitting in the middle of the lineup always inspires confidence
About time for De Winter. He always looked good every time he came in.
You can do as much analysis as you want and propose as many changes to the team setup as you want. Allegri is known for never changing anything when things are going well. 😆😆
If everything goes as planned, I trust allegri to sub one of the defenders (pavlovic or gabbia) for rest. I just want a brace for gimenez. The Ricci analysis above makes perfect sense, but allegri always prefers a deep lying playmaker. So modric will always be there