Arsenal vs. AC Milan: Be Wary of These Rossoneri

They say 2-0 up is one of the most dangerous scorelines if you’ve got the lead. Why? There’s almost too much comfort to go with the scoreline, and if the opposing side gets one back they’ve got momentum and all they need is one more. That’s the goal for the Rossoneri as they travel to the Emirates in the return leg vs. Arsenal on Thursday, March 15th. As atrocious as the first showing was (really the first half), you’d almost bet Gattuso’s men to come out with the same snarl and fight that Rino showed himself in his playing days. It can be said that perhaps the lack of European experience got the better of some players like Calabria, Kessie, and Suso, but there weren’t many great performances overall. So just who is it that we can expect to step up and lead us past Arsenal in likely the most crucial fixture of the year thus far?

Giacomo Bonaventura

Jack wasn’t at his best against Arsenal, nor was he his usual self against Genoa over the weekend, but count on a change in the return leg. Jack does wonderful things for the side and his combination with Ricardo Rodriguez and Hakan will likely be our best spark with Kolasinac facing players like Suso almost every week. Look for Bonaventura to link up with Hakan and Cutrone/Silva/Kalinic before blasting home a goal for himself.

Andre Silva or Patrick Cutrone

Look it’s been said before and it’ll be said again, Kalinic is not right for the red and black. He’s been inventive in getting us some nice free kicks around the box and he fed Calabria a lovely assist against Roma, but we need goals. Spoiler alert, he doesn’t score them. With Silva’s renewed confidence after is first Serie A goal plus his surplus of Europa League goals, perhaps he becomes the Silva lining in this fixture (overused I know but it has such a nice ring). Cutrone has been a nightmare with his creative runs, but he can be marked out of games at times. That being said, Miranda and Manolas are plenty the defenders Koscielny and Mustafi are, so it’ll only be but for so long that they can hold him. Look for one of the two forwards to send Milanisti rioting through Twitter and the streets.

Hakan Çalhanoğlu

I’d love to put Suso here because he is incredibly capable of changing the game for Milan, but there’s so many cut back and dance players in the Premier League that I’m afraid Arsene has probably taught his defenders how to deal with them, though I hope I’m miles wrong. Hakan is a different type of winger because he’s traditionally a number 10. Bellerin will be able to track his speed and then some, but the combination he has going on that left side allows him to get inside and launch one of those patented bullets he’s so capable of, with Rodriguez taking Bellerin wide with him. I’d put my money on a Hakan or Suso cross finding the head or foot of a striker or Bonaventura in the coming fixture.

Kessie and Suso are fully capable of changing the game, but their showing was horrendous and they have a lot to change if they’re going to be a driving factor in a comeback. I honestly hope I’m dead wrong and the both of them do what we know they can do. In the end of it all, I just want to advance as do the rest of the Milan faithful.