Stefano Pioli’s Milan host Bologna at the Stadio Meazza tonight, with Olivier Giroud starting up front.
It kicks off at 19.45 UK time.
The Rossoneri are looking for a victory after seeing Napoli and Inter win over the weekend. Pioli said on the eve of the game that playing after their direct opponents doesn’t change much for the Rossoneri.
Only Simon Kjaer is out of action and Pierre Kalulu is likely to start along with Fikayo Tomori in centre defence. Brahim Diaz is the favourite to start over Franck Kessié who has reportedly signed with Barcelona ahead of a free move in the summer.
Milan won 11 of the last 12 Serie A games against Bologna and scored at least two goals in each one of the previous six meetings with the Rossoblu. The Rossoneri won the last five home Serie A games against Bologna. They are the team with the most victories by one goal (11) in the top 5 leagues, including their last five games.
No team has scored more goals than Milan in the opening 30 minutes (21) and nobody has fewer than Bologna in the same period (four).
Bologna will be without their coach Sinisa Mihajlovic who announced a new round of cancer treatment last week. All the players will travel to Milan, including the injured Lorenzo De Silvestri, Kingsley and Nicolas Dominguez.
Bologna have conceded just one goal from corner kicks and are have scored eight goals from the same situation. Only Inter and Roma have more. Bologna lost the last two games and haven’t scored for three games in a row.
Milan vs. Bologna, probable line-ups
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Bennacer, Tonali; Messias, Diaz, Leao; Giroud.
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupsi; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; Hickey, Schouten, Svanberg, Dijks; Orsolini, Soriano; Arnautovic.
Pressure on us with both Napoli and Inter winning their tough matches. This is a crucial moment. Let’s see if we can hold our nerves.
Completely agree with Pioli. Just focus on Bologna and treat others as final matches. Inter and Napoli victories will be meaningless if Milan can win at least 7 of the last 8 fixtures.