Milan – Lazio Serie A Week 13

The derby was won with a relatively healthy squad featuring both Leao and Pulisic on the pitch together. Possession means less and less in today’s football and it was Inter who had most of the ball to little effect. The game finished 1-0 and the sole goal came from a counter which the hard working and increasingly important Saelemaekers used well, his curved ball into the box was so that Yann Sommer could only get a hand to the ball and present it to the on rushing Pulisic. A penalty given threatened to derail the win but Maignan further solidified his Magic Mike nickname but fooling Calhanoglu and saving the shut out win. More can be said about the penalty, refereeing and VAR but it remains clear that football rules and their application are very much broken and inconsistent.

Now is the time for Milan to build on the derby win. Maurizio Sarri and Lazio have not exactly had a great start. Lazio sit eighth and have scored a somewhat surprising low number of 15 goals in their 12 Serie A matches so far. I Biancocelesti will miss players like Danilo Cataldi and Nicolo Rovella for this match as well providing a better opportunity for Milan. That is not to say Milan are ever truly injury free. Pulisic has a training ground knock, described as not serious, and will very likely miss this match. Nkunku or Loftus-Cheek will replace the American along side Leao. The midfield five will likely not change. The aforementioned Saelemaekers will start with Fofana, Modric, Rabiot and the imporving Bartesaghi. The back three consists of Tomor, Gabbia and Pavlovic in front of the very much in form Maignan. The French goalkeeper’s form has added urgency to his impending Bosman status. However it remains unlikely that he will be a Milan player next season.

A Coppa Italia rematch with Lazio follows five days after this one but in Rome.

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