AC Milan and Lecce will be up against each other at San Siro this afternoon, with some interesting 1v1 battles on the cards. The Rossoneri are set to field a very attacking-minded XI, so there is no doubt that a lot will depend on the attack.
Stefano Pioli and his men have won their last six games (all comps) and will be looking to make it seven today. Also because Roma are up next in the Europa League, meaning Milan will want to head into that clash with good confidence.
The full focus is on today, though, and below we will go through the key battles that could decide the game. If you haven’t already, make sure to check out our preview of the game.
The battles
Starting at the back from Milan’s perspective, Matteo Gabbia will play from start instead of Malick Thiaw and he will be up against Nikola Krstovic. The latter is a strong striker – physically speaking – but he hasn’t scored in a while, so the Milan man could have the mental advantage here.
On the right-hand side, Davide Calabria will be up against the heavily praised Patrick Dorgu, who mainly has played as a left-back/wing-back this season. However, the latest reports have him as a left-winger and it will be interesting to see how he will cope there. It should also be noted that he has been linked with Milan.
In the middle of the pitch, Christian Pulisic will find himself in the No.10 role for the first time with Milan. He will most likely be closely followed by Lecce’s Ylber Ramadani, who is known as a tough defensive midfielder. Pulisic doesn’t always have the strength, but speed and technique are on his side here.
Samuel Chukwueze has been in great form lately and he will get the chance once again on the right flank, this time up against Antonino Gallo. The latter is not the most glamorous of left-backs but he works hard, so the Nigerian will still ahead to be at his best. Another good performance would certainly help Milan a lot.
Finally, also taking recent form into consideration, it’s impossible to not mention Rafael Leao. He was decisive against Fiorentina and will be looking to shine again, taking on Valentin Gendrey. Due to Leao’s early injury in the reverse fixture, we didn’t get to see much of this battle.
Antonio on IFTV was complaining about Leao again but I’m sure he’ll do well today.