Milan still in pretty good form but a tough loss midweek away to Leverkusen. Now they travel to Fiorentina, a place where they have struggled in recent years. Can they take all 3 points?…
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
FIORENTINA: WDWLD
MILAN: LWWLW
FORMATIONS
FIORENTINA (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Dodo, Comuzzo, Ranieri (C), Gosens; Bove, Cataldi; Colpani, Adli, Gudmundsson; Kean
MILAN (4-4-2): Maignan; Royal, Gabbia, Tomori, Hernández (C); Pulisic, Fofana, Reijnders, Leão; Morata, Abraham
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 2:45pm EST/7:45pm GMT
PLACE: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye (Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes in the US); FuboTV and TLN for Canada; TNT in the UK (maybe?); ESPN for Mexico; DAZN for Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a website called GXR for our friends in India; and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
*Let us know if this needs updating or if you have additional broadcasters to add*
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Milan are gunning for their 3rd straight win in Serie A and they’ll have their work cut out for them today. Fiorentina have stumbled some out the gate but they have plenty of talent to finish in the top 7 this season. Hosting Milan, I’m sure we’re about to see Fiorentina’s best game of the season.
The two main themes for today from my perspective is that Fonseca is starting the starters, smart with an international break on the horizon, and him missing a few players to injury, in particular RLC. So maybe his hand was forced with the starting lineup? Maybe, but it’s a win either way. Pioli often had his best coaching performances when his squad was limited. Hopefully Fonseca can do the same thing.
So Milan has the same starting lineup that beat Inter and Lecce, which excludes the presence of RLC. So far this season Milan is 2-0-0 (6pts in 2 games) when he’s not starting, and 1-2-3 (5pts in 6 games) when he does. I’ve mentioned this a bunch of times here, I think Milan has addition by subtraction when he’s out of the lineup. Other players do more because they’re better in their specified roles and not a better overall talent than RLC. Sometimes some dudes are just duds and he’s definitely one of those for me.
One more big thing: Morata is starting and the combination and work ethic of Morata and Abraham up top has proven to be very good at creating pressure and helping Milan win the ball back in dangerous positions. Throw in that they’re very good in their specified roles – hold up striker and support striker – and this is best version up top. Just gotta find that space to give Leão so he can continue to influence the game.
Finally, Fiorentina have a lot of attacking talent out there with Colpani, Gudmundsson, and even Kean has come to back to life. So Milan’s backline is going to have to be awake. Adli is getting the start, and while I’m somewhat worried about the ex-Milan player curse, he’s currently slotted as the CAM and I think Milan can exploit that, both by diminishing him but also taking advantage of his very poor defensive capabilities.
As for predictions…
Lisi says: Starting the starters! Love it! I think we’re leading at the half and hold on for a 2-1 win. Abraham gets on the board!
Again, my predictions have sucked but I was leaning towards the same 2-1 win as Lisi, so I’ll stick with that.
Forza Milan
gillis
**Don’t forget to check out Lisi’s Weekend Whip Around: Round 7!