Anderlecht vs. AC Milan preview

By Peter Galindo on November 20, 2012

Champions League Group C may have one of its members already through to the first knockout round, but Anderlecht and AC Milan will be battling as third place hosts second place in Brussels on Wednesday.

AC Milan is coming off a 2-2 draw at Napoli where Stephan El Shaarawy bagged a brace and brought his team back from 2-0 down. However, they have injury problems in defence. Djamel Mesbah and Luca Antonini are still unavailable along with Ignazio Abate and Daniele Bonera. Manager Massimiliano Allegri will have to once again switch up his center backs, so Philippe Mexes and Francesco Acerbi should start. Mattia De Sciglio and Kevin Constant are the odds on favourites to feature at full back. After that, it’s hard to tell what Milan’s formation will be since Allegri constantly changes it up. Riccardo Montolivo will most likely be featuring as a regista with Antonio Nocerino and Nigel De Jong a little ahead of him. Stephan El Shaarawy must be a shoe in to feature up front, but after that, it’s a crap shoot. Bojan, Giampaolo Pazzini, and Alexandre Pato are available as strike partners.

For Anderlecht, they have fewer options at striker. Matias Suarez and Cyriac are sidelined, so it’s either Tom De Sutter or Dieumerci Mbokani who’ll start up top. The Belgian outfit hasn’t changed their lineup in their last three games, all of which they’ve won, so expect them to stick by their XI.

With Zenit St. Petersburg playing Malaga, whoever wins the game in Brussels might clinch their spot in the last sixteen if Zenit don’t earn maximum points. However, with Malaga already sealing their fate already, they might not field their best squad. This is why for it’s crucial that both sides give it their all because relying on other teams isn’t the best strategy. If AC Milan manage to emerge victorious and do qualify for the knockout stage, it’ll be a massive boost for what has already been a good past few days.