Milan travel to Parma with the most hysterical and
downtrodden fans possibly ever. Morale at the club seems to be on the upswing,
but the fans are apparently slow to pick up on it. So most of what you will
read or hear may be doomsday/apocalyptic. In reality, you can tone that down a
few notches. Milan are desperate for points, certainly, but with the improving
mentality and a reprieve from playing the top five or six teams, Milan may
actually take point(s) from this one. Maybe.
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| Will one of our strikers score? Maybe. |
Parma actually sit above us on the table, in eighth place.
While they are coming off a 2-2 draw against Bologna, who stole a point from
them with an equalizer in the dying seconds of the match, they have also beaten
Roma and drawn with Inter thus far this season. So don’t think this match will
be a cakewalk.
For their draw against Bologna last week, D’Aversa lined up Sepe;
Iacoponi, Dermaku, Alves; Darmian, Kulusevski, Scozzarella, Brilla, Gagliolo;
our old pal Kucka, and Sprocati. Unfortunately, D’Aversa will be missing
Cornelius, Karamoh, Inglese, and more recently, Scozzarella to injury. He will have Gervinho, back, though. The most
guaranteed outcome for Parma is that the Milan away fans will pay tribute to
Kucka, if not actually cheer for him, because he was so beloved amongst Milan
fans.
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| Miss his grinta? Definitely. |
Pioli has a big chance to change the narrative, but he’s got
some injuries to deal with. He will be missing Rodriguez and Caldara, Castillejo and Borini may not yet be fit. Paqueta is reported to have a slight injury and will likely miss
this match, too. Pioli got some bad news about his backup center back, as Leo
Duarte’s heel injury turned out to be a big one and he had surgery on it on
Thursday. He will miss three to four months. While the press has turned up the
volume on buying a replacement, Pioli must choose his starting eleven on Sunday.
Calhanoglu and Bennacer are both back from suspension. While
Bonaventura’s screamer against Napoli challenges Calhanoglu’s starting spot, if
Paqueta misses out, then they may both play. Also, Suso should be returning, which
helps. But Milan need goals, and Pioli needs to figure out if he starts Piatek
or Leao, or possibly both, in the hopes that the goals will finally come.
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| Will Pioli's luck change if he pats Suso's head? Maybe |
Parma are at home, and are a force to be reckoned with.
Milan are desperate for points, but if they play without thinking about the
table, there is a chance they could actually steal three points from the Stadio
Ennio Tardini. Or at least one. Or maybe not, part of it depends on if
their away fans back them. Can Milan pull it off? Maybe.
This post was
inspired by the music of The Cure's "Maybe Someday"
Serie A Week 14
Parma vs. Milan
Sunday, December 1
• 15:00 CET (9am EDT)
This match can be
streamed LIVE on ESPN+ in the U.S.