AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli hinted Christian Pulisic could be utilised as a false nine during Friday’s game against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
The former Chelsea forward has scored twice in his first two Serie A appearances and could be deployed in the position in the capital.
Milan will be without fellow summer-signing Noah Okafor who is recovering from injury though Samuel Chukwueze and Yunus Musah who also arrived during the summer will be available “from the first minute.”
Pioli’s side lead the early Serie A table after beating Bologna and Torino in their opening games, and will open up a three-point lead on champions Napoli with victory against Roma, for at least 24 hours.
Of Pulisic’s ability to play as the most advanced forward he said: “Everything is possible in football, when there are two essential factors: the quality of the players and their desire to make themselves available.
“Right now I think it’s important to give the team certainties. We’ve changed a lot, between exits and signings we’ve changed almost the whole squad.”
Roma have made a slow start, picking up just one point from their opening two games, from a 2-2 draw against Salernitana.
However, the complexion of their season was altered on Thursday with the confirmation of the season-long loan signing of Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea.
Pioli admitted Lukaku represents “a significant signing on paper” but added that any catalyst it might provide for the atmosphere amongst home supporters at the Stadio Olimpico would only serve to “stimulate rather than intimidate” his side.
Lukaku is not expected to start when the sides meet on Friday having not played competitively for Chelsea this season.
“Every match must be a turning point,” said the manager. “We are Milan and we want to play to win. Roma are strong, they only have one point but they had good numbers in the first two matches. We want to give continuity to the first two victories.
“We always want to play a certain type of football, it’s the opponents who change. We want to play our football, trying to minimise mistakes. We’ll have to be careful and precise, we’ll have to play the game and not suffer it.
“We worked a lot together to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. I always insisted on a certain idea of the game and gave continuity to certain field choices.
“Let’s talk about important players, they are strong and intelligent. The whole system is working, even if there are still many things to improve.”
Roma are likely to be without captain Lorenzo Pellegrini and striker Paulo Dybala for the game in the Italian capital, with both players suffering from injury.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
Napoli 2-2 Roma: Late Abraham header denies wasteful hosts
A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma in Serie A, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot a minute before the hour mark, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus fouled Sardar Amzoun.
However, Napoli equalised six minutes later through Matias Olivera's deflected shot, and completed the turnaround with their own penalty six minutes from time as Victor Osimhen tucked away after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was felled by Renato Sanches.
The hosts could not hold on, though, and were pegged back with two minutes to go. Substitute Abraham's header from a corner was eventually awarded following a VAR review after he had initially been ruled offside.
Data debrief
Napoli remain eighth in the Serie A table on 50 points, the exact amount they had registered after their opening 19 games of last season.
Though his penalty was not enough to earn Roma victory, Dybala continued his impressive start to 2024, during which he has been involved in the joint-most goals in Serie A with 12 (nine goals, three assists).
Inter's 'leader' Inzaghi upping the standards, says assistant Farris
Simone Inzaghi has set and maintained high standards at Inter, so says his Nerazzurri assistant Massimiliano Farris.
Inter clinched their 20th Serie A title by beating fierce rivals Milan in Monday's derby.
That meant that Sunday's home meeting with Torino was something of a celebration for Inter and their fans, and the team delivered with a 2-0 victory.
Hakan Calhanoglu scored both of Inter's goals, and Farris, who spoke to the media instead of his boss, piled the praise on Inzaghi.
In quotes reported by Football Italia, Farris told DAZN: "We've tried to build a positive environment. We lost important players [last summer], but we welcomed important players who made themselves loved.
"Going to the pitch and working this season was a pleasure. We had a lot of fun and it's the players' merit.
"We are Inter, we have great value, and we couldn't afford to lose games like we used to. He's our leader, he kept a high bar in difficult moments.
"Today, we are repaid for everything, and we can enjoy more of what happened in the previous two years. In football, defeats [hurt] more than victories, but now we must enjoy this moment."
With victory over Milan, Inzaghi became the second-fastest coach to reach 600 points in Serie A, after Carlo Ancelotti.
Farris added: "Simone already said it in the previous interviews. We’ve been fighting for every target across the last three years. We have won cups, we reached a Champions League final.
"We are aware that in the first season, we missed something that we could have taken home [the title].
"Perhaps it was the price to pay, as staff members, when you get to a club like this, but I think this season's achievements give value to all other trophies.
"Today's atmosphere was incredible, so good. Ninety minutes and more of celebrations and it was fair to start those who have brought the team here. This doesn't mean the others didn't contribute. On the contrary, everyone was helpful, I should name them all. I wouldn't even call them reserves."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
