Sky Sport Italia claim that not only will Milan transform their tactics to a 3-5-2 formation, but they could also drop Rafael Leao to the bench again for the Derby della Madonnina with Inter, while there’s a new role for Junior Messias.

It kicks off on Sunday at 19.45 GMT at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, in the San Siro area of the city.

Coach Stefano Pioli has warned there will be radical changes after a run of dismal results, including the Coppa Italia exit to 10-man Torino, 3-0 defeat to Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana, then 4-0 and 5-2 Serie A losses to Lazio and Sassuolo respectively.

According to the latest reports, Pioli is prepared to drop Rafael Leao to the bench for the second game in a row, even though it failed to have the desired effect against Sassuolo.

That would see Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez take the wide roles, with Junior Messias moved into a midfield role to stand in for injured Ismael Bennacer.

The front two would be the more experienced Olivier Giroud and Divock Origi.

There are also other reports that Milan can go 4-3-3 from the traditional 4-2-3-1, again with Messias in the midfield to unite with Sandro Tonali and Rade Krunic.

In that case, Giroud would be flanked by Rafael Leao and Alexis Saelemaekers.

Mike Maignan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fikayo Tomori, Alessandro Florenzi and Bennacer are all out of action.

Potential Milan line-ups

Milan (4-3-3): Tatarusanu; Calabria, Kjaer, Kalulu, Theo Hernandez; Messias, Tonali, Krunic; Saelemaekers, Giroud, Leao

Milan (3-5-2): Tatarusanu; Kjaer, Kalulu, Gabbia; Calabria, Messias, Tonali, Krunic, Theo Hernandez; Origi, Giroud

Milan (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Calabria, Kjaer, Kalulu, Theo Hernandez; Tonali, Krunic; Messias, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Giroud

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