Milan have the chance to close the gap on sixth-placed Napoli tonight, as they travel to bottom-club SPAL.
It was at the San Paolo where SPAL lost 3-1 in their last outing – their second defeat since the restart and their eighth of the calendar year.
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Milan meanwhile have looked as good as they ever have under Stefano Pioli. A 4-1 win at Lecce was followed up by an impressive 2-0 win at home to Roma, with goals coming from the in-form Ante Rebic and Hakan Calhanoglu in that game.
For the home side tonight, another defeat would all-but confirm their inevitable relegation into Serie B, and taking anything from Milan will be made harder with several injuries to contend with.
Dias Felipe is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the Serie A season last time out, while Federico Di Francesco, Ervin Zukanovic and Etrit Berisha are all ruled out.
Pioli may not choose to rotate his squad too much tonight, given the chance we have to go level on points with Napoli, so expect a near full-strength squad. Zlatan Ibrahimovic could yet make his first appearance since the restart having recovered from a calf injury, but the Swede will likely start on the bench given Rebic’s form.
Elsewhere, Leo Duarte remains a long-term absentee, with Mateo Musacchio also ruled out in defence. Captain Alessio Romagnoli will face a one-match ban if he picks up his fifth yellow card of the season tonight – Milan next travel to Lazio at the weekend.
Probable line-up:
Expect Pioli to stick with a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation tonight, with little change from their win over Roma. Gianluigi Donnarumma will no doubt start in goal, with a back-four of Andrea Conti, Simon Kjaer, Romagnoli and Theo Hernandez.
The two holding midfielders will likely be Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer, with an attacking midfield trio of Samu Castillejo on the right, Lucas Paqueta on the left coming in for the 30-year- old Giacomo Bonaventura, and Calhanoglu in the middle.
Up-front will no doubt be Rebic – the 2018 World Cup finalist has two in two since the restart,
with eight so far in Serie A this season.