As highlighted by Corriere dello Sport this morning, today’s match at San Siro beetween AC Milan and Napoli impacts the Scudetto ambitions of both teams.
While Antonio Conte's side will still face Inter and Atalanta soon, offering them further tests, the situation for the Rossoneri is almost at a decisive crossroads.
The standings indicate that the visitors team leads with an eight-point advantage over Fonseca, partly due to last weekend's postponed game against Bologna. In fact, misstep from the Rossoneri would raise significant doubts about Milan's Scudetto aspirations.
The Portuguese coach, however, firmly believes in the title, as reflected in his statements yesterday during the press conference.
A victory, on the other hand, would allow Milan to reduce the gap in the standings, benefiting not only themselves but also Inter and Juventus.
Rafael Leao on the sidelines for Milan - Napoli
To try to maintain the momentum from the results against Udinese and Club Brugge and keep the standings tight, Paulo Fonseca will once again rely on Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor, just as he did about ten days ago against Udinese.
Unfortunately, on the left flank, Rafael Leao will again be the one to suffer, as he might be going through the most challenging period since arriving in Milan.
The coach emphasized that the Portuguese player is training well, but all these exclusions are not punishments.
Milan coach Fonseca with different choices for his starting eleven to face Napoli
Chukwueze will play on the right because Loftus-Cheek will be moved back to play next to Fofana, while Pulisic will be deployed as a playmaker behind the striker, where he has already shown reliability.
Another significant exclusion in defence is likely: Fikayo Tomori is expected to make way for the pairing of Malick Thiaw and Strahinja Pavlovic. Davide Calabria could even be seen on the left, replacing Theo Hernandez.
