AC Milan and Bologna face each other twice in five days, with the first act coming in Friday night’s Serie A meeting at San Siro.
Bologna are right in the midst of the battle for the top four and so these three points will mean a lot more for them than for Milan, who are down in ninth. However, the Rossoneri also have an obligation to try build momentum in view of the Coppa Italia final.
Milan vs. Bologna: Predicted starting XIs
Sergio Conceicao will be without five players for tonight’s game. Rafael Leao is suspended, while Emerson Royal has just returned from a long absence and won’t be available. Warren Bondo, Youssouf Fofana and Riccardo Sottil are the other absentees.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) this morning, the changes to the team will largely be in attack. Joao Felix will take the place of Leao, while there will be a chance for Santiago Gimenez from minute one, with Christian Pulisic completing the trident.
-Ruben Loftus-Cheek moves into midfield after starting further forward against Genoa, with Tijjani Reijnders his partner. Theo Hernandez and Alex Jimenez remain the left and right wing-backs respectively.
Despite the talk about Malick Thiaw and/or Kyle Walker coming in, Conceicao should name the same defence of Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic in front of the goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Predicted Milan XI (3-4-3): Maignan; Tommo, Gabbia, Pevlovic; Jimenez, Loftus-Cheek, Reiñs, Theo; Pulisic, Gimen, Joao Felix.
Predicted Bologna XI (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; De Silvestri, Beukema, Casale, Lykogiannis; Freuler, Aebischer; Orsolini, Fabbian, Dominguez; From the.
