AC Milan will play their first away game of the 2024-25 Serie A season on Saturday night as they take on Parma at the Stadio Tardini, also looking for Paulo Fonseca’s first win as head coach.
After the disappointing but dramatic 2-2 draw against Torino to begin the season a week ago, reports suggest Fonseca will make a number of changes to the side. Just like in round one, the outcome of the game against newly-promoted Parma will largely depend on winning some key duels.
Perhaps the most important re-entry into the XI for Milan will be Theo Hernández, who loves facing Parma. The first of his three braces in Serie A came on 13 December 2020 against Parma. He has scored a total of three league goals against them, but will also be asked to help build more defensive resilience too.
Dennis Man had 17 goal contributions last season for Parma in Serie B and he scored their first goal back in Serie A in round one against Fiorentina, showing that he is still the man to keep an eye on. The Romanian is the one who is expected to battle Theo down Milan’s left.
One of the most fascinating battles will be in midfield, where Tijjani Reijnders is widely tipped to return to the line-up in the double pivot. The Dutchman is the creative metronome of this Milan side without a doubt, and having his ball-progressing ability back will be key in establishing the rhythm of the game.
His opposite number for tonight should be Adrian Bernabe who is a key creative presence too (eight goals, three assists last season), with his performances even catching Milan’s eye as per reports earlier this year. The Spaniard usually plays as a playmaker but Fabio Pecchia is expected to move him back into the double pivot for this one.
Parma have quite a young centre-back pairing in Enrico Del Prato (24) and Alessandro Circati (20), with the latter likely to be the man who comes up against Noah Okafor who Fonseca confirmed will lead the line in his pre-match press conference on Friday
