A change in fortune is needed for both these clubs and these Lecce vs. Milan predictions suggest that it will be Stefano Pioli’s men that will be going home happier on Saturday.
1 – Milan to win – 17/20
2 – Under 2.5 goals scored – 7/10
3 – Both teams not to score – 4/5
4 – Olivier Giroud to score anytime – 21/10
5 – Milan to win 1-0 – 11/2
Lecce were desperately unlucky last weekend, as they conceded twice in stoppage time to end up losing to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. After surviving a penalty away from home in the first five minutes, the Salentini probably thought it was going to be their day.
But that defeat makes it six games without a win for Lecce – and now they face a Milan side equally desperate for points. Not all of those recent results for Lecce have been against the bigger teams in Serie A either, so a quick turnaround is needed.
Roberto D’Aversa can usually rely on his players to give it their all. But he may have to depend on Milan’s being tired after midweek Champions League action if Lecce are going to pick up a much-needed win.
Stefano Pioli is probably under even greater pressure at Milan – especially after a disappointing Champions League campaign. He has already said that he takes full responsibility but he won’t want to give the Milan owners a chance to consider his position at the club.
The Rossoneri have not won in any of their last three Serie A games but have faced both Juventus and Napoli in that time. The manner of the defeats were probably more of a problem, although giving Udinese their first win of the season at the San Siro last weekend will be deemed unacceptable.
Pioli should be able to smile a little more this weekend, although this game against Lecce will be no walk in the park. He may have to turn to the ever-reliable Olivier Giroud, once again, to come away with all three points.
Lecce vs. Milan can be live streamed on the bet365 website. Customer account holders need to have funds in their account or have placed a bet in the 24 hours before kick off to access the action from the Stadio Via del mare.
| Player | Total goals |
|---|---|
| 7 | |
| 5 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 | |
| 2 |
| Player | Total goals |
|---|---|
| 15 | |
| 12 | |
| 9 | |
| 6 | |
| 6 |
Lecce (4-3-3): Falcone; Gendrey, Pongračić, Baschirotto, Gallo; González, Ramadani, Kaba; Almqvist, Krstović, Banda
Milan (4-4-2): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Thiaw, Florenzi; Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Krunić, Leão; Giroud, Jović
Roberto D’Aversa is likely to go with much the same starting XI that came so close to victory against Roma last weekend. Expect to see Gabriel Strefezza come off the bench later on in the game though.
Stefano Pioli will wait to see how his players come through a demanding Champions League match against PSG in midweek. But he should be able to field a strong side here, possibly even bringing Ruben Loftus-Cheek back after his injury lay-off.
