GdS: Why Fonseca is expected to change the centre-back pairing vs. Venezia | OneFootball

AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca must think about managing minutes as the frequency of games increases with the beginning of the Champions League, and he is expected to rotate the defence tomorrow against Venezia.

According to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), there are a couple of factors that are at play as Fonseca aims to decide the team that he will field tomorrow night against the Venetians.

Firstly there is the fact that a lot of his players have not had an international ‘break’ because they have been away representing their country, with some only returning yesterday. Secondly, there is the fact that Liverpool and Inter await after the game against the newly-promoted side.

In view of the differing co-efficient of difficulty in the games to come, Strahinja Pavlovic could be preserved and given some rest for the match against Venezia, having played the full 90 minutes in the last four games he has been involved with for Milan and the Serbian national team.

The idea is for him to recover some sharpness in view of the battles against Mo Salah and Lautaro Martinez, with Matteo Gabbia expected to take his place in the centre of defence alongside the immovable Fikayo Tomori, who remained at Milanello over the break.