AC Milan will face Sassuolo tomorrow afternoon and the latest report on the probable XI has now arrived. By the looks of it, Stefano Pioli will make a total of six changes from the win over Atletico Madrid mid-week.
Given the tight schedule, quite a few changes were expected to the starting XI but perhaps not six of them. One of them has to do with the fact that Mike Maignan is back and ready to start, having made a remarkable recovery from his wrist surgery.
According to MilanNews, Alessandro Florenzi will replace Pierre Kalulu in the right-back position. It’s a bit surprising as the latter has done very well lately, but the Italian came on against Atleti and seemingly impressed Pioli enough.
In midfield, Tiemoue Bakaoyoko and Ismael Bennacer will form the tandem, which will give Franck Kessie and Sandro Tonali some much-needed rest. It will be Bakayoko’s first start of the season, which is always special.
In the attacking trio, Rafael Leao will be back after getting the rest he needed mid-week. Zlatan Ibrahimovic came off the bench in that game but will play from the first minute tomorrow amid Olivier Giroud’s injury.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Bakayoko, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, Diaz, Leao; Ibrahimovic.
READ MORE: Pioli names 23-man squad for Sassuolo clash – Maignan returns
I guess, this is the best squad for today!
Kalulu’s a young lad playing a lot of games, sure it’s just rotation. Maignan being back is superb news.
When messias come in he gonna make show with leao and ibrahimovic i think the best trio in world
I would have rested Kjaer and played Gabbia. He needs game time and will improve if given it. Also Kjaer needs some rest and is very important for us in the long term.
Gabbia will only develop a complex if he is not trusted ever.
Gabbia will have his time against smaller team like Genoa, Empoli, and Salernitana. But for now, Kjaer and Romagnoli are the best choices against Sasuolo.
Also hopefully we can get some first half goals and get Pellegri, Maldini and Messias some game time. With injuries to Rebic and Giroud we will need some of them to step up.