Blimey. Matchday two is upon us and Rossoneri social media is already in chaos. With the signing of Juraj Kucka and the defeat against Fiorentina, it’s been quite a depressing week for Milan Twitter (just for reference, I think Kucka is a good signing as a squad player). But hey, sit up Milan fans, Empoli is coming to town and they’re managed by the fantastic Maurizio Sarri anymore (hooray) and they lost at home to Chievo, 3-1 last weekend (double hooray).
Team news
AC Milan manager: Siniša Mihajlović
Predicted line-up:
Bench: Abbiati, Alex, Zaccardo, Abate, Calabria, Montolivo, Nocerino, Poli, Kucka, Suso, Cerci, Balotelli
Suspended: Rodrigo Ely
Injured: Mexes, Menez and Niang.
Empoli manager: Marco Giampaolo
Predicted line-up:
Bench: Pelagotti, Pugliesi, Martinelli, Costa, Camporese, Bittante, Dermaku, Ronaldo P, Maiello, Signorelli, Krunic, Mchedlidze.
Injured: Laurini
Recent form and previous meetings
AC Milan (including Coppa Italia): WL
Not much can be read into the win against Serie B side Perugia in the Coppa Italia. It was essentially a pre-season game for Milan. And it feels like the game against Fiorentina should just be a write off considering Rodrigo Ely’s red card, which meant realistically Milan were never going to get a point.
Empoli: (including Coppa Italia): LL
It’s a Maurizio Sarri-less Empoli, what the hell did you expect? This season I think we will all realise just how good Sarri is as a manager, when Empoli presumably plummeted back down to Serie B and Sarri thrives at Napoli. In the Coppa Italia Empoli lost to Serie B side Vicenza 1-0, no biggie. But then they went and lost their first Serie A home game 3-1 against Chievo. Yeah, bloody Chievo. Former Milan man Valter Birsa even scored a goal and got an assist against The Blues.
AC Milan player to watch: Keisuke Honda.
The pivotal player in the 4-3-1-2 is the #10 playing behind the two strikers. I’m pinning Keisuke Honda as the player to watch here because the Japanese international had a disappointing start to the season, through no fault of his own as he was substituted off against Fiorentina after Ely’s sending off as Mihajlović looked to sure up his team defensively.
Honda’s creativity has question marks over it, he can tune down his goalscoring now that he has Adriano and Bacca playing in front of him now, instead of Jeremy Menez. The midfielder’s efforts should be concentrated on creating chances for his striking duo and not trying to score his own goals. This could be a make or break season for Honda, if Milan have title aspirations, it remains to be seen if Honda could be an elite title winning player, he hasn’t shown it yet.
Empoli player to watch: Lorenzo Tonelli
The 25 year old centre back was crucial to Empoli and Sarri’s success last season. Arguably one of the most underrated defensive players in Serie A, I found it surprisingly Tonelli wasn’t snatched up by a higher ranking side looking for a defensive improvement. If Empoli do get relegated, Tonelli will be one of the first to go. Oh right, it’s only the second game of the season.
Let’s be honest, Empoli will be hoping for a draw at best. Yeah, yeah Empoli drew at the San Siro last season, but that was a Sarri side and I still have some relative optimism this Milan side is far better than the one we saw last year (they’ve spent an extra €90m, so one would assume it’s better). Tonelli will be crucial to keep Bacca and Adriano quiet today, it was evident Empoli missed him against Chievo last weekend, as their defense seemed lost and chaotic.
Writer’s prediction: Milan 2 Empoli 1
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