Chukwueze temptation persists for Pioli – Loftus-Cheek could retreat

Stefano Pioli could hand Samuel Chukwueze a start against AS Roma in the Europa League which would mean a change in role for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Milan News), the coach is keen to avoid another weak attacking performance against Roma like his team produced in the first leg which ended 1-0 to the Giallorossi at San Siro.

To do this, he may look to have four natural attacking players on the pitch from the start in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Olivier Giroud will start up front, but the three behind could be Rafael Leao on the left, Christian Pulisic in the centre, and Chukwueze on the right.

This would be a just reward for the improved form that Chukwueze has shown recently, but it leaves Loftus-Cheek unable to play in the centre of the three as he has done for the bulk of the season.

Loftus-Cheek has been superb this season and deserves to play in the big matches, so he could actually drop deeper into the midfield two.

That may be Ismael Bennacer’s problem, as Tijjani Reijnders would be the most likely to start alongside Loftus-Cheek in the centre. It would be a risky strategy, but Milan have a deficit to overturn.