In a couple of days AC Milan will play one of the most important games of the season, a real litmus test away against Roma.
Milan go into the game at the Stadio Olimpico having won their last two against Como and Lecce, to keep pace with Inter at the top who also keep winning, but also open up a bit of a gap to fifth place (seven points).
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Roma meanwhile are only four points behind the Rossoneri, and the fact they are yet to draw a game this season suggests the three points are either staying in the capital or coming back to Milan.
Roma vs. AC Milan: Predicted starting XIs
For Milan, the main news going into the game is that Alexis Saelemaekers might miss out. He suffered an adductor strain in the victory against Lecce, and his run of 21 consecutive league starts (every game) is at risk. Santiago Gimenez will also miss out.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport this morning, Mike Maignan will have Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and the returning Strahinja Pavlovic ahead of him as the three-man defence, with Koni De Winter dropping to the bench.
Zachary Athekame is set for a first league start to replace the injured Saelemaekers. Youssouf Fofana, Luka Modric and Adrien Rabiot are reinstated as the midfield trio after some midweek changes, with Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao the front two.
The likes of De Winter, Samuele Ricci, Ardon Jashari, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christopher Nkunku and Niclas Füllkrug for once give the indication of having options on the bench for Allegri to exploit.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Athekame, Fofana, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Leao.
Predicted Roma XI (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Ghilardi; Celik, Cristante, Kone, Wesley; Dybala, Pellegrini; Malen.
Wesley, Kone, Pellegrini look scary
even more when we have Fofana, Athekame, Tomori… all super error prone… quick goal should be a must for us…
Kone is rubbish you don’t have to worry about him he is just another rlc
Tomori has that reputation indeed but this year has been solid. Fofana is actually solid in defense (he is simply frustrating going forward). Athekame, well, let’s see what the kid can do.
Athekame has barely played. How do you know if he is super error prone?
I dont think Tomori is error prone. This seaon, our 3 starting cbs have all really mature performances, with little errors.
hope so, if I were Allegri I would push our trio deeper to cancel Kone, Pellegrini, Wesley… if they can lock them down, we win via left
If Leao limps around in the first half and does nothing, I’m hoping Fullkrug is a quick 2nd half sub.
I don’t think Milan should start Leao if he’s not 100% fit.
If leao plays then milan will as usual play with 10 men. REPLACE LEAO WITH FULLKRUG AND MILAN WILL PLAY WITH 12 PLAYERS.
Go and watch another sport. Leao has 20 goal involvements most seasons. Without him we wouldn’t be in the top 4.
Yup. I understand ppl wanting Rafa to run his socks off but we gotta see his actual goal contribution. Careful what you wish for, a guy running around all game may not necessarily be “good”. Otherwise, Musah would be world class and for those old fans, Andrea Poli comes to mind. Hard work, run a lot, feel the shirt but no end product.
Am I seeing fofana in the list. Hell I can play better with my eyes closed than him. He has no business playing, cos with him or RLC we are always one man short
The only “danger man” for Roma is Mancini, as he baits our players into cards. Just shut him up and we should be fine. Also leave Fofana on the bench for now, Ricci is on a good run of form, also if Tomori starts making his lapses in judgement just bring Pavlo off the bench. If Leao isn’t fit bring him off the bench too. Otherwise I’m happy, Athekame can do the job, the kid just has a sense of calm on the ball, no panic like with Emerson Royal or Estupinian, which is crazy to think as Estupinian is an experienced player.
Saele is back in training. Classic 352 with counters. Definitely Leao and Puli start. DeWinter VS Pavlo is up to Max, but KDW’s engines are warm whereas Pavlo may need to catch up.
Fofana VS Jashari VS Ricci is an interesting argument though.
Acmilan should play the 4-3-3 instead of the 3-2.