GdS: Allegri opts against rotation for Genoa game – the reasons and the team expected

For the first time this season, AC Milan have four league games scheduled in eleven days, and Massimiliano Allegri will have to manage minutes.

However, La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) report that the head coach isn’t planning on any mass rotation in tomorrow night’s match against Genoa. Instead, his best players will be on the pitch, including Luka Modric, who will likely rest on Sunday in Florence.

The coach has seen his team bounce back from defeat in the Supercoppa Italiana by beating Verona and Cagliari while keeping clean sheets, and he doesn’t want his team to lose their rhythm. Roma and Juventus won on Tuesday too, so there is added pressure to win.

Allegri opts against overhaul

Against Genoa, who drew last year at San Siro to ruin the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations, the best players will take the field. The starting defence of Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and Strahinja Pavlovic will return in front of Mike Maignan.

Unlike Friday’s match against Cagliari, the Italian centre-back will start, something he hasn’t done since mid-December when he was sidelined with a left knee injury. There’s still some doubt over Pavlovic and De Winter, but the Serbian has recovered from his flu.

After starting in Sardinia on Friday, Luka Modric has had time to recover and will be there against Genoa. It’s more difficult to imagine the Croatian starting against Fiorentina too, so the other idea could be to play part of the game tomorrow night, to preserve him a bit for Sunday.

Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Bartesaghi will be out wide, with Youssouf Fofana and Adrien Rabiot joining Modric. Samuele Ricci is in good shape and hopes to start over Fofana, but if not he is favoured over Ardon Jashari to replace Modric at the Franchi.

Finally, in attack, Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao will lead the line for only the second league game this season. Niclas Füllkrug will be on the bench, potentially making his debut at San Siro after his time against Cagliari.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek didn’t train yesterday due to a slight strain. Since he had frequent physical problems last year, the technical and medical staff preferred to let him rest. He is expected to rejoin the squad this afternoon and be available for the Genoa match.