Milan vs Genoa Preview

Sorry, deze pagina is alleen in het Engels beschikbaar.

Oktober 26, 2012 Door Gregory Sica

The Rossoneri will be desperate to return to winning ways when they battle with Genoa at the San Siro on Saturday.

AC Milan are currently passing through a very difficult moment, as the Italian giants are winless in their last three Serie A games, after having drawn with Parma and suffered defeats to Lazio and city rivals Inter Milan.

Milan are also struggling in the UEFA Champions League, and on Wednesday were dealt another major blow with a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Malaga in Spain. For that game, coach Massimiliano Allegri decided to change things around a bit by experimenting with a 3-4-3 formation, but although his side lost the game they showed signs of improvement. For that reason, Allegri is expected to stick to three men at the back on Saturday.

As has been the case since the start of the season, Allegri will have to make do with a number of absences against Genoa due to injury. He will be unable to count with the services of the likes of Sulley Muntari, Christian Abbiati, Djamel Mesbah and most importantly Brazilian attacker Robinho.

Allegri's desired attacking partnership will be that of Stephan El Shaarawy and Bojan Krkic, who will replace former Inter Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini. With five players in midfield, the coach will surely make some changes, and one likely change will see Dutchman Urby Emanuelson shifted to the left flank.

Meanwhile, there will also be several changes at Genoa, especially because Luigi Delneri will make his official debut as the new coach of the club following Luigi De Canio's sacking last week. The coach has already announced his plans to introduce a 4-4-2 tactical formation, which he believes could work nicely for the side. For Saturday's clash, Delneri will be unable to count with no less than seven players, including impressive Peruvian midfielder Juan Vargas.

Milan, who beat Genoa 1-0 the last time the sides met in April, will be desperate to put on a good showing in front of their home fans, because if they don't not only will more pressure mount on the squad and coach Allegri, but the Rossoneri could drop into the relegation zone. With seven, right now they are on the same number of points as three other sides, including 18th-placed Pescara.

Despite their horrid form, Milan come into the clash as the odds-on favourites to claim the three points because Genoa have also been struggling of late. Milan's board have been relatively patient with Allegri until now, but if the Rossoneri fail to overcome the visitors there's no question that the coach will be out of a job.