AC Milan host Venezia tonight at San Siro with one clear mission: to get their first win of the season, and finally start the ball rolling in the Paulo Fonseca era.
After a 2-2 draw against Torino in round one, a 2-1 defeat to Parma in round two and most recently another 2-2 draw away at Lazio, the pressure has been dialled up on Fonseca and the players to deliver. Over 70,000 fans will be present tonight, and they expect a good performance.
Whether they get one or not depends on some key battles across the field, starting with the one between Tammy Abraham and Michael Svoboda, the 25-year-old Venezia defender who should play in the middle of a three-man defence.
Abraham arrived at Milan on deadline day and made a big impact on his debut less than 24 hours after joining, setting up Rafael Leao in the draw with Lazio, and he would love to announce himself to his new fans with a goal tonight.
Theo Hernández will be licking his lips ahead of the contest because he has scored three goals against Venezia in Serie A, a joint record for him, level with Parma and Torino. All three came in the Scudetto season of 2021-22, with one at home and two in Venice.
The Frenchman is back in the line-up after starting on the bench against Lazio, and his opponent will be the 24-year-old wing-back Antonio Candela who joined Venezia in 2022 and made 40 appearances last season in their promotion-winning campaign, with four goal contributions.
Moving to the midfield, the latest projections suggest Tijjani Reijnders will be used in a more advanced role. He started in the double pivot in the last game but his excellent performances for the Netherlands in the No.10 role seem to have convinced Fonseca to push him forward.
His opponent will be the 31-year-old midfielder Alfred Duncan, a player who joined the Venetians during the summer mercato and was linked with Milan on many different occasions when he was at Sassuolo and Fiorentina. He will have to use his experience to stop a player full of confidence.
The big danger man for Eusebio Di Francesco’s side is Finnish striker Joel Pohjanpalo, who drew plenty of attention last season as he scored 22 goals in Serie B (with five assists too) to help fire them to promotion, having scored 19 the year prior.
He is yet to break his duck in Serie A with Venezia having scored just once in three games, but he will look to cause issues for Matteo Gabbia on the break, with the Italian defender making his first start of the season alongside Strahinja Pavlovic.
Finally, there will be eyes on the most awaited summer signing Youssouf Fofana in his first home start. The Frenchman is the man seemingly tasked with maintaining the balance of the entire team if you believe the media reports, and this is a game – at least on paper – where he will see plenty of the ball to find his feet.
On the other side, Gaetano Oristanio – who was Venezia’s most expensive summer signing – will look to be the creative heart of the team and cause issues in transition. There is another reason he will feel extra motivation tonight: he was at Inter from 2016 to 2024.
