AC Milan and Arsenal will both field starting line-ups that are quite far off what would be considered ‘first choice’ in today’s friendly in Dubai.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Ciprian Tatarusanu will be in goal for Milan with Pierre Kalulu at right-back, Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori as the centre-backs and Tommaso Pobega as the emergency left-back given Theo Hernandez is still at the World Cup and Fode Ballo-Toure is on vacation.
Sandro Tonali and Aster Vranckx are tipped to be the double pivot with Ismael Bennacer having only just rejoined the group, while Alexis Saelemaekers should get the nod on the right wing and Ante Rebic on the left wing, with Yacine Adli behind Divock Origi.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are expected to have to field the likes of Hein in goal, Cedric and Holding in defence, Elneny and Lokonga in midfield plus Nelson and Nketiah in attack.
Really interested to see Pobega at LB
Pobega’s path to success might be the same as Jankulovski’s, moving from midfield to LB, I think he has the qualities of a good left back, he’s got god physical attributes, as well as a great left foot, might not be a bad tactical switch for him in the long run
Jankulovski could run, but Pobega can’t.
Really slow for a LB.
This is a good game to experiment with Pobega. If he has a good game, then it saves us buying a backup LB for Theo. Same if Vrancxk can perform as well. Really looking forward to hearing some positive reports on Adli after the game.
Tata is just awful lol, just disastrous