After their win over Sampdoria at the weekend, AC Milan will hope to follow it up with another victory when they face Genoa at the San Siro on Wednesday night.
That win moved the Rossoneri up to fifth place in Serie A, as they know three points in midweek will see them leapfrog Lazio into fourth place as the battle for Champions League qualification heats up at such an early stage of the campaign.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso opted to make a crucial change on Sunday, switching to a 4-4-2 system with both Gonzalo Higuain and Patrick Cutrone starting up front.
It delivered major results as both strikers scored and linked up brilliantly for Milan’s second, and it appears as though Gattuso will stick with that change with his side expected to dominate possession in this one and create plenty of chances.
However, there will be changes it seems as Giacomo Bonaventura is expected to start in place of Diego Laxalt on the left flank after he missed out on the weekend with an injury problem.
The second will be forced on Gattuso, as Davide Calabria limped off last time out, and so stalwart Ignazio Abate is expected to step in and replace him in the starting XI with Andrea Conti seemingly not yet ready having only just returned to the squad after a lengthy injury layoff of his own.
Laxalt will arguably feel rightly aggrieved over potentially losing his place as he played well on Sunday, but it remains to be seen if Bonaventura gets the nod over him to add more quality in the final third.
Milan were rocked this week by the setback suffered by Mattia Caldara, as La Gazzetta dello Sport note he faces three months on the sidelines with a torn calf muscle. While he has struggled with fitness all season which has limited him to just one appearance anyway, his return would have been crucial.
Having been poor defensively so far this season, Gattuso will hope that the 4-4-2 can also help keep things tighter at the back having conceded 13 goals in just nine league games.
Probable Milan XI: Donnarumma; Abate, Musacchio, Romagnoli, Rodriguez; Suso, Kessie, Biglia, Bonaventura; Cutrone, Higuain. (via Eurosport Italia)