Tonali to start - How Milan could line-up against Lille

9:45am on Thursday 5th November 2020
By Martin Macdonald

Sandro Tonali is expected to start for Milan when the Rossoneri take on Lille in the Europa League this week.

The Italian is a new signing at San Siro, but Stefano Pioli has preferred to start him in the Europa League rather than Serie A so far this season, with Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer the central midfield duo usually selected in the league in recent games.

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Tonali has started both previous group stage matches against Celtic and Slavia Prague.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is, of course, getting on in years but his performances have arguably made him undroppable, so expect him to feature before potentially being withdrawn on the hour mark depending on the scoreline.

Brahim Diaz could be given a start at the expense of Rafael Leao, while Ante Rebic has recovered from injury so he might make the starting XI after coming off the bench at the weekend.

Mateo Musacchio and Samu Castillejo are not expected to feature.

Pioli could opt for a completely different front three from the one which started against Udinese, with Rade Krunic coming in for Alexis Saelemaekers