In today's edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport the talk is Napoli - Milan, a Sunday evening match set to take place at the Maradona stadium. Historically, this is a stadium that has been favourable to Il Diavolo. In the past three seasons, Pioli's team has never suffered defeat. In 2020, right after the initial lockdown, Milan drew 2-2 and later triumphed 3-1. The last game against Napoli was a year ago, and it was Olivier Giroud's split that secured a crucial victory for the Scudetto.
That was an exceptionally compact team, but today AC Milan must recover their solidity as they struggle to maintain their position. Speaking of formation, given Kalulu's calf injury, Kjaer could make a return to the defensive line. Alongside the Dane, Tomori could be seen in the backline, as Pioli is reportedly considering reverting to the 4-2-3-1 formation that brought him so much satisfaction in the past with AC Milan.
Additionally, Milan's coach intends to bolster the midfield by including Bosnian midfielder Rade Krunic, alongside the regular starters, Ismael Bennacer and Sandro Tonali. There could also be changes in the attacking department, with Rafael Leao returning to the left side, a role that enables him to be devastating and rotate with his teammate on the left flank, Theo Hernandez.
One player who is guaranteed to play is Olivier Giroud, as he has proven to be the key man for Milan. In the previous season, he scored his first away goal in this stadium. This year, he has only managed to score against Sampdoria at Marassi. Who knows if this match will present him with another opportunity to find the net away from home. Finally, it's uncertain whether Zlatan Ibrahimovic will start with his teammates. He recently sustained a physical problem while playing for the national team and was not on the bench in yesterday's match against Azerbaijan.
