Serie A PREVIEW | Milan v Fiorentina

Milan will aim to get their Scudetto charge back on track when they face Fiorentina in a top-four rivalry match tomorrow at the San Siro.

Milan are without a win in the Serie A for more than a month now and manager Stefano Pioli hopes to bring back things in order following the return of club football from the international break. In the Champions League, they endured a strenuous time too but goals from Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud took their side over the mark against Paris Saint-Germain in their last European outing. 

The Rossoneri thought they were on course to secure the three points against Lecce after taking a 2-0 lead but the Salentini came back into the match with goals from Nicola Sansone and Lameck Banda. 

With Olivier Giroud picking up a red card in his last match, Stefano Pioli will have a tough time selecting a team for Fiorentina, especially in a time when the visitors are without much defensive reinforcements. 

Meanwhile, Fiorentina will aim to make it a third straight victory across all competitions after securing three points against Cukaricki in the Conference League and Bologna in the Serie A. The Viola are just a point away from fourth-placed Napoli and they will use their upcoming match to leapfrog into the top four places. 

Vincenzo Italiano’s side has faced scoring problems this season as they lost three consecutive matches without netting once, notably against Empoli, Lazio and Juventus before going on a winning spree. Last season’s Conference League finalists are expected to have a shot at the title once again and they will hope to face Genk next week on top form. 

Results from their last five matches across all competitions

Milan:

D W L D L

Fiorentina:

W W L L W

Team News

Stefano Pioli will be without the services of Olivier Giroud, Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor for the match. 

Luka Jovic and Samuel Chukwueze are expected to get the nod. Fikaro Tomori and Malick Thiaw are titled to form the two-man central defence. Ruben Loftus-Cheek might be able to feature after recovering from injury.

As for Fiorentina, Luca Ranieri, Dodo and Gaetano Castrovilli will remain out of action. 

M’Bala Nzola and Lucas Beltran are expected to start front. 

Predicted XIs

Milan (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Jovic, Pulisic

Fiorentina (4-2-3-1): Terracciano; Parisi, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Arthur, Duncan; Gonzalez, Bonaventura, Brekalo; Nzola

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN