Back to it! Let’s go take 3 points from Napoli.
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
NAPOLI: DLDWD
MILAN: LLLWW
FORMATIONS
NAPOLI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Politano, Gilmour, Lobotka, McTominay, Spinazzola; Lukaku, Raspadori
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan (C); Walker, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Hernández; Fofana, Bondo; Pulisic, Reijnders, Felix; Abraham
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 2:45pm EST/7:45pm GMT
PLACE: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli
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:
I spoke a lot about what Milan needed to do down the stretch in the last post looking at the remaining schedules for Milan and the other top 4 chasers, so here I’ll just share a few thoughts about the lineup and what we can maybe expect to see.
The last time these teams played was way back in late October. Fonseca started Pulisic and Leão on the bench, Theo was suspended, and Lukaku scored 5 minutes in. A Kvaratskhelia goal right before halftime and Milan was down 2-0 and that’s how it ended. With Fonseca doing all this dumb sh*t, it’s hard to look at that game for any insight in how today’s game might go. What we do know is that Conte likes to sit and counter and Lukaku is his guy that makes it all come together. Gabbia and especially Pavlovic will need to lock him down (I like the Pavlovic play for this reason).
On offense, Leão is sitting to start again but this is more a byproduct of him playing during the international break. I like João Felix starting and would prefer him as the CAM but LW works as well. I’m sure I’ll get my preferred lineup when Leão comes in and Reijnders gets pushed back into the double pivot. With Napoli’s 5 man midfield (it’s showing them in a 4-3-3 but we’ll see…I’m skeptical), getting wide and between the lines will be key and I like Abraham starting as Milan he can play through him. Hopefully they can do enough to get a breakthrough but don’t be surprised if João Felix and/or Abraham are part of any goals Milan score.
PREDICTION TIME:
Hard to say what’s going to happen. Napoli have been limping for a while now, with just 1 win in their last 7 matches. Did Conte correct things during the break? I’m going to stay no and Milan win 2-1. Please win 2-1…
Forza Milan
gillis