Week 17: Milan – Fiorentina

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Week 16 at Bologna offered another disappointing tie. 0-0 vs a team that is on the verge of firing its coach, Milan legend Pippo Inzaghi, does not inspire confidence. The injury crisis had one bit of good news with the return of captain Romagnoli but little positive else of note. Kessie as ineffective as ever along side Calhanoglu and Bakayoko added to the team’s woes by accumulating yellows. The Ivorian got a yellow to miss Fiorentina through suspension. The Frenchman got two yellow within three minutes to get his own suspension.

Therefore Milan has to face week 17 without either and of course Biglia is far away from a return. The other central midfielders on the team are Mauri, Bertolacci and Montolivo. The latter is frozen out completely with numerous whispers that he will leave in January. Whether or not Bertolacci gets minutes is questionable but Mauri hasn’t done poorly in recent relief appearances.

Word is that a new and reworked middle three of Calabria, Mauri and Calhanoglu will start in front of Abate, Zapata, Romagnoli and Rodriguez in another 4-3-3. The 4-3-3 could feature Higuain, Suso and Castillejo up front.

Calhanoglu’s almost shocking form continues to be a cause for concern and he may be off as early as January as Milan welcome Paqueta and possibly Fabregas or other midfield (Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic?) reinforcement. The Turkish international has been struggling with simple movement but he has not been the only one. Kessie, Cutrone and Higuain – just to name three more – have all seen their form dip. It says a lot about the state of Serie A’s opposition that Milan with one league win in the past five still retains the fourth spot in the table. Lazio, Roma and others are not exactly on fire and the fourth place is perhaps the only thing that is keeping Gattuso’s job safe, for now.

Fiorentina are five points behind Milan.