AC Milan vs Crvena Zvezda: Key Battles and Predictions

AC Milan face Crvena Zvezda for the second leg of the Europa League round of 32 fixture tonight at the San Siro. Here are some key battles in the game and our predictions for who comes out on top:

Key Battles

Centre back vs Striker

Fikayo Tomori vs Diego Falcinelli

Tomori did well to stifle Falcinelli in the first leg but expect much more switching of sides from the striker as he looks to confuse the Romagnoli-Tomori partnership. The threat from Falcinelli will be the shots from distance and the rebound shots from inside the box hence Tomori needs to be alert and up to the task.

Left back vs Centre Back

Theo Hernandez vs Radovan Pankov

Hernandez has struggled to create in attack recently and this is beginning to expose his defensive frailty. Interestingly, Milan tend to get hit hard on the counter attack when Hernandez loses the ball after a run up the pitch. He tracks back slower than he advances and leaves us short one defender every time. Pankov will definitely look to exploit this sticking close to Hernandez and attacking him early to win the ball and launch counter attacks.

Central defensive midfielder vs Central midfielder

Franck Kessie vs Guelor Kanga

Kessie needs to be a leader tonight and that starts with keeping Kanga quiet as he ripped through our defence a few times in the first leg. His snapshots and piercing runs from the midfield were the main threat and Kessie will need to intervene for us to get anywhere with this game. The midfielder scored a penalty in the first leg and should not get any such opportunity this time round.

Predictions

Tomori Winner

Hernandez Winner

Kessie Winner