Milan have had a very mercurial week, beginning with a disconcerting loss away to Torino, then Pioli's renewal on Monday, and finally, an impressive win in the Champions League to qualify for the Round of 16 on Wednesday. Now they have to continue to build momentum as they host Spezia at the San Siro on Saturday.
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| Milan need to build on their midweek win to stay competitive in Serie A |
Spezia hover just above the relegation zone, with only two wins, three draws, and seven losses. Their most recent loss came on Sunday, a 2-1 loss to Fiorentina. For that matchup, Gotti lined up Dragowski; Ampadu, Kiwior, Nikolaou; Holm, Bourabia, Ekdal, Agudelo, Reca; Nzola, and Gyasi. Nikolaou was sent off in that match, so will be suspended on Saturday. Additionally, Kovalenko is out until January with a muscle injury. While Milan will have the San Siro behind them, Spezia will have had all week to rest and recover.
Milan fans might blame Spezia's poor fortunes on the lack of playing time given our on-loan Daniel Maldini, who was apparently injured for a lengthy period of time and has yet to start, despite being available for nearly four weeks now. He has only made three substitute appearances for Gotti, playing only 73 minutes for Spezia. However, I think his father and all of us would actually prefer that he does not play against Milan on Saturday. It was hard enough to see him go on loan at all. A Maldini playing against Milan seems inherently wrong.
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| It's unnatural to see him in anything but a Milan kit |
Pioli is still without Ibrahimović, Florenzi, Calabria, Saelemaekers, and Maignan for the rest of this year due to long-term injuries. After two matches already played this week and two more to be played within the following eight days, I assume he will try to rotate some of the squad from Wednesday's match. Who he rests and who he still plays, however, is something only he can answer.
For the sake of our goals conceded column, I can only hope he still plays Kjaer, as we have only conceded one goal with him on the pitch this season, I believe. While seeing Thiaw get a few minutes was exciting and I want to see him grow into the team, he's still got Gabbia, Tomori, and Kalulu ahead of him, depending on Dest's condition.
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| Kjaer is essential to our defense, especially with Maignan out injured |
For everyone else, we will just have to wait and see who gets rest and who still plays, but Pioli will no doubt be calculating how many starters he can afford to rest while still maintaining enough quality to not drop points again in the league. With only three matches left before the World Cup break, every point is important to end this half of the season in good standing. This match will be tricky, but it is all about building momentum.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
12:30 AM
Rating:
