AC MILAN v BOLOGNA: MATCH PREVIEW

After Udinese and Atalanta, it’s time to face Bologna. AC Milan’s third fixture of the 2022/23 Serie A season will be played at San Siro against a tricky Rossoblù side led by former Rossoneri Coach Siniša Mihajlović. It’s an important showdown as Coach Pioli’s men look to immediately return to winning ways in the league and start an intense period in the best possible fashion. Here’s our Match Preview to present tonight’s game, which is kicking off at 20:45 CEST.

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
Tonight’s match against Bologna marks the beginning of a cycle that will see AC Milan play seven times in the space of three weeks. With this in mind, changes could be made to the Rossoneri’s starting line-up, which was the same for the opening two matchdays. Ibrahimović and Krunić remain out, but Charles De Ketelaere is in contention make his first AC Milan start. During his pre-match press conference, Coach Pioli confirmed that Giroud and Origi are battling it out to get the nod up front.

“It’ll be a difficult game against a team that will cause us problems,” said Coach Pioli ahead of the match. “We have to both perform well and come away with a win. We made history by winning the Scudetto, but this team wants to write another chapter. For as long as I see this in my players’ eyes, I’ll consider myself a fortunate coach. The best team will face Bologna, which will also be based on our opponents.”

LATEST FROM BOLOGNA
The Rossoblù have picked up a point from their opening two games (against Lazio and Hellas Verona). They took the lead in both of these matches before being reduced to ten men. Orsolini was the player who saw red against Hellas, meaning he’ll be forced to miss out. Soumaoro, the man who was sent off against the Biancocelesti, will be available for selection again after sitting out the last match through suspension.

Siniša Mihajlović is likely to stick with his usual 3-5-2 formation. There are a few certainties – Skorupski between the sticks, Medel at the centre of defence, Domínguez looking to dictate play in midfield and Arnautović in attack – and a couple of doubts, too, like who will get the nod between Lucumí and Bonifazi in defence and Sansone and Barrow up front. “I’m certain that we’ll put in a great performance away to AC Milan,” said the Serbian Coach on the eve of the game. “We’ll try to play like we did last time out. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to win, but, like always, we’ll have a go. There will be a lot of fans at San Siro, and we’ll need to remain composed.”

LATEST FROM SERIE A
Gianluca Manganiello will be the referee for AC Milan v Bologna, which will be the 40-year-old’s 76th game in Serie A. He’s taken charge of six previous games involving AC Milan, two of which were played last season (Spezia 1-2 AC Milan and AC Milan 1-3 Sassuolo). Dei Giudici and Margani will be the linesmen, while Meraviglia will perform the role of fourth official. Nasca will oversee VAR, assisted by Imperiale.

Serie A matchday three kicked off yesterday with Monza 1-2 Udinese and Lazio 3-1 Inter. Today, in addition to the game at San Siro between AC Milan and Bologna, Juventus v Roma (18.30 CEST), Cremonese v Torino (18:30 CEST) and Spezia v Sassuolo (20:45 CEST) will take place. Tomorrow, the following matches are in store: Hellas Verona v Atalanta (18:30 CEST), Salernitana v Sampdoria (18:30 CEST), Fiorentina v Napoli (20:45 CEST) and Lecce v Empoli (20:45 CEST).

This is the current Serie A table: Lazio* 7; Napoli, Roma, Inter* 6; Juventus, AC Milan, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Torino, Udinese* 4; Sassuolo, Spezia 3; Bologna, Empoli, Salernitana, Sampdoria, Hellas Verona 1; Cremonese, Lecce, Monza* 0. * = one additional game played

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