AC Milan takes on Napoli at the San Siro stadium. It is a top fixture of the Serie A, valid for matchday 18 in this ongoing league campaign.
Stefano Pioli's team is looking to recreate the form that his side had in the start of the season. The last couple of games were not really something the fans were wanting: an elimination and a loss against a Liverpool side which was well-rotated at the San Siro, and a frustrating draw against Udinese away from home. Now, it is time to accelerate and switch gears.
Right now, AC Milan are second in the Serie A standings with 39 points. Inter, who managed to grab an easy vicory against Salernitana 5-0 are enjoying their 43 points after 18 games. Napoli, who lost against José Mourinho's Roma 4-1 have 37 points in third place while Spalletti's boys have 36 points in fourth position.
The absences are many for the Rossoneri, but there is no excuses now as all the players must give 100% in trying to secure the win tonight.
Speaking of the AC Milan absences, here is the list: Ante Rebic, Rafael Leao, Simon Kjaer, Davide Calabria, Alessandro Plizzari and Pietro Pellegri. Recently there has also been much talk of Theo Hernandez being left out of the starting lineup due to fever with Fodé Ballo-Touré tipped to start instead of him.
Napoli will also be missing some important stars such as: Victor Osimhen, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mario Rui, Fabian Ruiz and Insigne. Both teams are plagued with injuries but, there will still be many important quality players on the pitch battling for dominance.
Tonight's midfield battle will be between Piotr Zielinski and Franck Kessié. The former midfielder of Atalanta will have to focus on the 27-year-old Polish player. The Napoli star likes to cut inside and drive the ball forward as he looks to pass it to Dries Mertens or the attacker in front of him, or just look for space to shoot. He is one of the engines of Spalletti's team and Milan must neutralise the threats coming from him.
For AC Milan, a lot will depend on Zlatan Ibrahimovic once again. But, individual effort is not enough. The Swede will have to rely on his teammates to help him in the attacking phase. Brahim Diaz and Junior Messias who are set to start as playmaker and right-winger, respectively, will look to feed the 40-year-old veteran with important through balls and crosses.
It will certainly be a difficult game for Stefano Pioli and Spalletti. Napoli are a side that likes to go forward and attack with quantity and depth. AC Milan's team may come under pressure a lot of times and the key here is for the players to be close to each other and compact in order to find passes and solutions to get out of the high press which many Italian teams have now started to apply against the Rossoneri recently.
As for the lineups, here are the probable choices of coach Luciano Spalletti:
4-2-3-1: Ospina; Malcuit, Rrahmani, Jesus, Di Lorenzo; Anguissa, Demme; Politano, Zielinski, Lozano; Mertens.
On the other hand, Stefano Pioli's AC Milan could play with this following formation:
