Matchday 31 in the Serie A as Milan hosts Genoa at the San Siro. Milan coming off an impressive 3-1 victory at Parma despite going down to 10 men. Genoa on the other hand is coming off a 3-1 defeat to Juventus. The last time the two sides met earlier this season ended in a rather drastic 2-2 draw with Pierre Kalulu saving the Rossoneri from defat scoring his first goal in his first start for the red and black faithful.
Milan has won their last four out of six meetings with Genoa only suffering one loss which was in March 2020, but they have also failed to win they last four out of seven home games against Genoa. Genoa and Atalanta are the only two teams which Stefano Pioli's side has not managed to defeat since he took the helm in the 2019/20 season. The Rossoneri sit in 2nd place with 63 points while the Grifone sit in 13th place with 32 points. Pioli must get his team right as the race for top four continues to grow neck and neck after each matchday and here is how his team could appear:
Milan 4-2-3-1: G.Donnarumma; Kalulu, Kjaer, Tomori, Hernandez; Bennacer, Kessié; Saelemakers, Çalhanoğlu, Rebić; Leão
This is a big weekend in Serie A and Milan must do everything possible to achieve victory, although the Rossoneri's home record and form doesn't favor them. They must be completely hungry to get 3 points if they want to solidify their ambitions of top for and returning to the Champions League. Donnarumma will be looking to perform once again after pulling off some impressive saves last weekend he was unlucky to not walk away with a clean sheet. Both Tomori and Kjaer will be ready to hold it down in defense and are arguably Milan's strongest center back pairing. Ismaël Bennacer and Franck Kessié will be looking for another dominant performance. Bennacer who missed many games due to injury this season is starting to look like his old self before he was injured, his passing outlets and effective dribbling to create space out of dangerous situations is massive, and Kessié has vital in Milan's midfield this season with countless MOTM performances. Hakan Çalhanoğlu must contribute to the team he has not assisted since Milan played Crotone although he did score against Fiorentina Milan needs consistency from him in these final games or it may look as Hakan might have to walk out the doors of Casa Milan without a contract renewal. Ante Rebić and Rafael Leão must work together to find the back of the net. We may see an appearance from Mario Mandžukić coming off the bench with Zlatan's suspension if so Milan must use Mandžukić as a target man to try and find a goal in this important fixture. Pioli and his men must be ready for battle to find victory against Genoa.
