Milan-Chievo Preview: The Sky is Falling

I can’t even imagine the reaction if Chicken Little knew that there were Flying Donkeys. After Milan drew with Empoli and Cesena, you’d have already thought the sky was falling. So when the Flying Donkeys land in the San Siro on Saturday, just remember the Boy Who Cried Wolf… wait, we don’t face Roma until December... Just try to be brave and keep your wits about you. Milan should be able to reverse their fortunes, but if for some reason they don’t, it won’t be the end of our season. And they’re just a bunch of Flying Donkeys, it’s not as if the actual sky is falling… regardless of what you hear on social media.

Hey, these guys look familiar

Corini’s Chievo sit 15th in the table after five matches, with a win, a draw, and two losses. Their most recent match was the draw, with Empoli. Chievo were playing at home, and looked to take three points with a goal by Meggiorini in the 50th, assisted by former Milan player and Inzaghi’s supposed heir, Paloschi. But Empoli equalized, just like they did with Milan. However Chievo’s win came against Napoli, who are apparently looking to emulate Allegri’s Milan of the last two years this season. Still, it says something that Chievo’s win was against a big club. It that means you may want to avoid Twitter and other social media until a day or two after this game.

To face Empoli, Corini lined up Bardi; Dainelli, Cesar, Nicolas Frey, Biraghi; Radovanovic, Cofie, Hetemaj; Botta, Birsa, and Paloschi. Having Maxi Lopez to sub on as well, Milan could very well face an all ex-Milan attack. However, Corini will be without Izco and Schelotto in the midfield, and Lazarevic is doubtful for this match, too.

Maxi, I feel for you, but please don't try to settle your score with us. Save it for Inter.

Inzaghi still has injuries. In addition to Montolivo, whose recovery has apparently been delayed until November, he’s still missing Saponara, Lopez, and van Ginkel. Those last three players are expected to be fit for our next match after the international break. Essien, Alex and Menez are possibly doubtful, with the latter leaving training early today. But reports as of this writing are that he will be available on Saturday.

Inzaghi’s other headache is his choice of formation. With the 4-2-3-1 having not been successful vs. Cesena, he has reportedly gone back to the 4-3-3 in training this week. Or maybe he just reads this blog and decided to go with popular opinion. Either way, he has a lot of tough decisions to make, including whether or not to give El Shaarawy a start, which would make a lot of fans happy. Or what to do with what has proven to be an abysmal midfield lineup. Will he call up Primavera players? Probably not. Not while he has the champion goalscorer Sulley “The Killer” Muntari available. And will Bonera start again since Zapata is suspended for this match? Or has Inzaghi finally done the math to see the ridiculous number of goals conceded directly because of the most despised nice guy on the planet? Inzaghi will lose popularity quickly if he starts the Un-Dynamic Duo™ of Muntari and Bonera again.

Even Inzaghi fears "The Killer"

This is a match Milan can and should win. But will they? Chievo will be desperate to record another win, and that makes them less predictable. Also, you never know what you’re going to get when you’re dealing with Flying Donkeys. However, if Milan can avoid shooting themselves in the leg, they have the San Siro as an advantage and should be able to take all three points from this. But if they don’t, rest assured that both the media and the Milan interweb community will collectively cry “the sky is falling” (even if it isn’t.)

This post inspired by the music of the Kings of Leon

Milan vs. Chievo

Saturday, October 4 • 20:45 CEST (2:45pm EDT)

This match will be shown LIVE on RAI and BeIN Sports in the U.S.

Check comments section for stream links ahead of the match