2 hours ago
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Lecce have hit a bit of a slump, following what was a decent start to the season, and they are facing a difficult task against AC Milan at San Siro tomorrow.
At this point, Milan and Lecce are very familiar with each other, having squared off in the league and also in the Coppa Italia. Tomorrow’s clash, as such, will be the third meeting this season and the away side could really use a good result to bounce back.
Opposition insight on Lecce
➤ Manager: Eusebio Di Francesco
➤ Form (all comps): L-D-L-L-L
➤ Top scorer (Serie A): Multiple players – 2
➤ Most assists (Serie A): Medon Berisha – 3
➤ Injuries & suspensions: Berisha, Camarda, Gaspar and Veiga.
Because of the above, most Milan fans will have a pretty good base knowledge of the Via del Mare side by now. Just to refresh our memories, however, Eusebio Di Francesco is still the coach of the team and the results up until this point have been mixed.
One of the big summer signings, Nikola Stulic, has been unable to fill the boots of his namesake Nikola Krstovic, who left for Atalanta. The Serbian has scored just twice in 19 appearances and it’s one explanation as to why Lecce only have 13 goals so far (lowest in the league!).
With that goal production, you are always going to struggle for points and that has been the case for Lecce. On the other hand, Di Francesco’s men have been able to win by the odd goal four times, three of which were 1-0 wins. Very important points, making up a majority of the 17 claimed so far.
The recent 1-1 draw against Juventus was certainly a confidence boost for the team, and it also acts as a warning to teams like Milan. The Bianconeri made one mistake on the edge of the box and Lameck Banda, one of the stars, found the back of the net with a great strike.
In order to get a result against Milan, however, it’s key players like Banda, Wladimiro Falcone, Jamil Siebert and Ylber Ramadani that will have to step up. None of them really caused any massive issues in the previous two games against the Rossoneri, not even on their home turf.
There are some heavy absences to note too. Gaspar, who is considered their best defender by many, was sent off against Parma for kicking an opponent who was lying down. He was handed a three-game ban for that and the timing couldn’t have been any worse (Inter, Milan and Lazio).
The starting right-back Danilo Veiga picked up a yellow card against Inter and will thus serve a one-game suspension on Sunday, meaning Matias Perez (who has only played 32 minutes) should get the chance against Milan’s left flank.
Adding the injury of Medon Berisha to the equation, things certainly could have been better for Di Francesco. The Milan loanee Francesco Camarda also looks set to cut his loan short and return to Milanello, per reports.
Predicted Lecce XI (4-2-3-1): Falcone; Perez, Siebert, Tiago Gabriel, Gallo; Ramadani, Coulibaly, Morente, Gandelman, Banda; Stulic.
Predicted Lecce bench: Fruchtl, Samooja, Kouassi, Jean, Ndaba, Fofana, Helgason, Kaba, Ngom, Maleh, Sala, Marchwinski, Ndri, Pierotti, Sottil.
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