AC Milan’s Coppa Italia marketing campaign will get again underway tonight at San Siro, and so they face off in opposition to Roma hoping to ebook a spot within the semi-finals.
Milan superior to the quarter-final stage with a crushing 6-1 win over Serie B aspect Sassuolo and so they know that they might meet Inter within the ultimate 4 in the event that they have been to get there, however Roma even have an eye fixed on doubtlessly dealing with Lazio.
Sergio Conceicao’s first little bit of silverware with the membership got here by way of a home cup competitors and he would little doubt wish to be the person to finish the Coppa Italia drought, however in opposition to a resurgent Roma underneath Claudio Ranieri.
The 5 key battles
It will likely be a wierd night for Tammy Abraham for a lot of causes. Firstly he’s dealing with off in opposition to his father or mother membership and little doubt needs to ship a message to them and to Milan with a superb efficiency and a purpose or two, to spice up his possibilities of a everlasting keep. With Santiago Gimenez ready within the wings on the bench, the mission can even be to strive combat for a beginning spot.
His opponent can be Mats Hummels, a participant that Milan have been truly linked with signing through the summer time earlier than he joined Roma as a free agent. With Gianluca Mancini out injured the 36-year-old German will anchor the defence, having made 13 appearances this season to this point.
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On the different finish, Paulo Dybala loves enjoying in opposition to Milan. He scored within the league assembly simply over a month in the past in opposition to the Rossoneri at San Siro with a beautiful volley, and he has 10 targets and 6 assists in 26 video games in opposition to them. Milan are the workforce he has confronted probably the most in his profession with 15 wins, 6 attracts and 5 defeats.
On condition that the Argentina likes to occupy central areas, Youssouf Fofana needs to be the person tasked with selecting him up. The Frenchman missed the derby in opposition to Inter as a result of he needed to serve a suspension so will purpose to make up for misplaced time, however he should be at his greatest to restrict the affect of La Joya.
Shifting to Milan’s left flank, Theo Hernandez will come up in opposition to a well-known foe in Alexis Saelemaekers. The Belgian has discovered a brand new lease of life underneath Ranieri enjoying without any consideration wing-back, utilizing his vitality and seemingly infinite battery to bomb up and down the flank, whereas he additionally has 4 targets and two assists in 11 Serie A video games.
Theo in the meantime just isn’t having the most effective of seasons. Each good efficiency appears to be following by three or 4 unhealthy or regular ones, although through the derby in opposition to Inter he did have a hand within the opening purpose and was a part of a defensive unit that maintained focus proper till conceding very late on. Towards Saelemaekers, he should be diligent in each phases.
Artem Dovbyk is Roma’s predominant menace from a scoring standpoint and given the cash they invested to signal him from Girona in the summertime it’s maybe not a shock. He has 12 targets in 30 video games throughout all competitions, nonetheless he has additionally been accused of being a bit wasteful at occasions, and his build-up and hold-up recreation remains to be growing.
A captivating duel awaits for him in opposition to Strahinja Pavlovic, who has gone from trying like one of many January exits to now being a starter underneath Conceicao. The Serbian is aggressive and proactive in his defensive type, and he’ll look to chop the ball out earlier than it even will get to Dovbyk, whereas there’ll little doubt be loads of aerial duels contested too.
Lastly, we finish with Rafael Leao in opposition to Zeki Celik, once more on Milan’s left aspect. Leao had his flashes through the derby, together with offering the ball that led to Reijnders opening the scoring, however in reality he was contained a bit by the choice to defend the lead for the whole second half.
There’s speak of him not being at 100%, but when he’s even near being on high kind then he might give Celik a really powerful recreation. The 27-year-old was truly linked with a deadline day transfer as Fulham got here ahead, however the full-back is ready to get a uncommon begin as the skin centre-back.