AC Milan vs. Empoli: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
After a frustrating opening week, AC Milan will head home for the first time to try to get their first points of the season against Empoli.
Date: Saturday, August 29
Time: 8:45 local time, 7:45 UK time, 2:45 EDT
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Venue: San Siro, Milan
TV Info: BT Sport Europe (UK)
Live Stream: beIN Sports Connect (U.S.)
Milan came into the season with a new coach, a new-look roster and high hopes for improvement after an embarrassing 10th-place finish a year ago. Unfortunately, what their opening game against Fiorentina saw was much of the same.
The midfield was overrun for much of the match. This meant that the new-look defensive pairing of Alessio Romagnoli and Rodrigo Ely were constantly trying to catch up to balls coming at them from what seemed like every direction.
There were consequences for both. Ely was forced to chop an opponent down on multiple occasions, until he was sent off in the 36th minute after seeing yellow for the second time. Romagnoli took down Josip Ilicic in the box, getting himself a yellow and giving away the penalty that clinched the game for the Viola.
Ely's dismissal changed the game profoundly. Keisuke Honda was sacrificed to reinforce the defense, depriving Carlos Bacca and Luiz Adriano with their link to the rest of the team up top. The result was a toothless attack and a defense that was constantly on the back foot. In short, the exact same thing as last year.
Had the game been at the San Siro, the same fans that boycotted several games last year would have rained down abuse on the team. If they want to win their fans back, there needs to be a marked improvement.
Empoli also got started on the wrong foot last week.
Life after Maurizio Sarri started with a bump rather than a bang. The Azzurri took a lead within seven minutes through Riccardo Saponara, but Chievo fired in three goals in eight second-half minutes to take home a 3-1 win.
It was clear that some of the mainstays of Sarri's team last year—guys like Daniele Rugani, Mirko Valdifiori and Elseid Hysaj—are sorely missed, as is the tactician himself. Without them, many are tipping the club for a trip back down to Serie B this season. Heading to Milan and making a statement could go a long way to making a statement that they won't be going out without a fight.
Form Lines
| Mlian* | Empoli |
| L 2-0 @ Fiorentina | L 3-1 vs Chievo |
| W 2-0 vs. Perugia* | L 1-0 vs Vicenza* |
| L 2-0 vs Tottenham** | L 1-0 @ Genoa** |
| L 3-0 vs Bayern Munich** | W 2-0 @ Pisa** |
| L 2-1 @ Lyon** | W 1-0 @ Pistoiese** |
General Notes:
*Coppa Italia game
**Preseason game
Milan Notes
*Trofeo TIM matches against Inter and Sassuolo not counted due to altered rules of competition.
Projected Lineups
| Milan (4-3-1-2) | Empoli (4-3-1-2) |
| Lopez | Skorupski |
| Abate Romagnoli Zapata Antonelli | Zambelli Tonelli Martinelli Rui |
| Bertolacci De Jong Poli | Zielinski Diousse Croce |
| Honda | Saponara |
| Bacca Adriano | Maccarone Pucciarelli |
Players to Watch
With Ely suspended and Philippe Mexes injured, the choice to partner Romagnoli in the lineup on Saturday comes down to two men: Cristian Zapata and Alex.
When Ely was sent off last week, Sinisa Mihajlovic went with the former to bolster his back line. That was something of a surprise, considering how little the Colombia international played during preseason. He was thought to be so far on the fringes of the team that he wasn't even considered for this column's 25-player preview of the team last week. Last year he only played 12 times—and he got sent off in one of those games.
The only center back on the team who has a regular spot on his national team at the moment, Zapata is capable of some very good play. He also has a propensity to make really baffling mistakes, which is why some Milan fans won't be relishing his return to the lineup.
That said, Zapata is probably the better choice here. What killed Milan in Florence on Sunday was through balls, and while Alex is as solid as they come when the ball is in front of him, the 33-year-old lacks pace and will have a tough time getting back to intervene if Empoli manage to slip a ball past him.
Zapata will likely be targeted early to get a read on how well he can link with Romagnoli next to him. It will be up to him to prove that Filippo Inzaghi was wrong to lose faith in him last year.
On the other end, Milan will be visited by a ghost of the past.
It's still not all that clear how Riccardo Saponara's time with Milan ended the way it did. Signed with some fanfare in the January 2013 transfer window, the attacking midfielder was a mainstay in Italy's U21 squad and had boundless potential. Upon arriving at the club that summer after finishing out the year with Empoli, he was handed the No. 8 shirt immediately.
He then promptly sat on his rear end and did nothing for the next year-and-a-half.
Saponara only played five times in 2013-14, starting twice. Last year, he only played one game in the first half of the season (and turned in one of the best shifts Milan had seen in the midfield that year). When the winter window came around, he was loaned back to his boyhood club in a deal that inexplicably contained a buyout clause.
All he did was rack up seven goals and three assists in 17 starts. Empoli exercised the buyout immediately.
Why Milan didn't do more with one of the best young Italian talents in the league is baffling. Saponara and Bryan Cristante have become symbols of Milan's reluctance to trust its young players and its insistence on trying to rely on quick fixes in the transfer market rather than building on youth.
Saponara didn't play in February's 1-1 draw between these two clubs at the San Siro. It's pretty certain that he's going to be looking to show his old team just what they missed out on come Saturday night.
Key Matchup
Saponara is the key to Empoli's attack, linking the rest of the midfield with forwards Luca Maccarone and Manuel Pucciarelli. If Milan wants to stop him from getting into dangerous positions and making key passes, they're going to have to hound him at every turn.
Enter Nigel de Jong.
The Netherlands international has been the somewhat surprising choice as Milan's regista in the 4-3-1-2. A position normally known for passing prowess—see: Pirlo, Andrea—Mihajlovic has gone for a more physical approach for the man in front of his defenders. It's a strange setup, but in this game it could be perfect.
Look for De Jong to use every dark art he knows to make the young midfielder's life difficult as he approaches the attacking third. A yellow for the midfielder would certainly not be a surprise.
Saponara, on the other hand, will try to peel off of De Jong to free himself. Look for him to try to combine with teammates to get himself space or slip out a bit wider, where he can get himself matched up with other, less dogged midfielders like Andrea Bertolacci.
If De Jong succeeds in keeping the youngster penned up, Empoli's forwards will generally be starved of service. If the 23-year-old gets away, it could be a long day for Romagnoli and Company.
Odds (via Odds Shark)
Milan win: 1-2
Empoli win: 6-1
Draw: 31-10
