Stefano Pioli is planning to make changes to his line-up as Milan look to continue their magnificent recent form against Lille. 

Building on their momentum from the end of the 2019-20 season, Milan - unbeaten in 24 matches across all competitions - have made a spectacular start to the new campaign. 

They sit top of Serie A with 16 points from a possible 18, having earned comfortable victories over Celtic and Sparta Prague in Europa League Group H. 

Milan host Lille on Thursday before welcoming Hellas Verona to San Siro on Sunday, with Pioli planning on rotating to keep his squad fresh.  

"We need the team to be energetic and fresh from a mental and physical point of view," he said. 

"So Wednesday's final training session will be important [to the team selection] but there will be some changes. 

"We know we have had a lot of games recently, now on Thursday we have an important match against a strong team.  

"We are focused only on continuing our path to the best of our ability. We are working well together. We started a journey but we are only at the beginning. 

"I have always believed in my players. We try to win every game but we are just at the start of our project. We are young, we have not won anything and therefore we still have much more work to do. 

"Lille are a good team. We have started well in the group and want to continue in this manner."

Milan defender Simon Kjaer was with Pioli at the pre-match news conference and is hoping to play against his former club despite the head coach's plan. 

Kjaer, an ever-present in Serie A this season, said: "I like playing, I feel better when I’m on the pitch than when I stay on the sidelines. 

"It has been a fantastic journey [with Milan]. We have improved so much. We have so many qualities everywhere. 

"This is a young team with huge potential. We are happy with where we are, though we do not talk about where we could be in six months." 

Reflecting on facing Lille, who he played for between 2013 and 2015, the Denmark international added: "I had a great spell there, I improved up a lot in two years.  

"It was a new beginning for me, after a period in Germany. It was a beautiful time and my first son was born when I was in France. 

"We had a very strong team. It has changed completely now, but Lille players are always strong and the club is really well organised. It is always a pleasure to play against them."