AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri is expected to make changes to the team for the game against Lecce, but it will be far from a full rotation.
Milan take on Lecce for the second time in the young season, this time with a place in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia at stake. However, the magnitude of the game on Sunday against Napoli cannot be ignored, even if Allegri seems determined to keep a good thing going.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
AC Milan vs. Lecce: Predicted XIs
The injury absences are as follows: Rafael Leao will miss out as he gets close to returning from a calf issue, Ardon Jashari is recovering from a leg fracture and Mike Maignan is not expected to be risked as he too sustained a calf issue.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport this morning, Pietro Terriacciano should be in goal with Koni De Winter coming into the three-man defence in Matteo Gabbia’s place. He will be flanked by Fikayo Tomori and Strahinja Pavlovic.
Alexis Saelemaekers keeps his spot but Davide Bartesaghi is tipped to replace Pervis Estupinan. In midfield, Luka Modric should get a rest but not Adrien Rabiot, who is joined by Samuele Ricci and Youssouf Fofana.
Up front, there will be a first start for the summer signing Christopher Nkunku who will want to impress in front of the San Siro crowd. Santiago Gimenez should get the nod too, hoping for a goal amid a difficult start to the campaign.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Terracciano; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Ricci, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Gimenez, Nkunku.
Predicted Lecce XI (4-3-3): Fruchtl; Veiga, Gaspar, Gabriel, Ndaba; Coulibaly, Berisha, Helgason; N’Dri, Camarda, Morente.
Not bad. I do hope Athekame comes on early for Saelesmaekers (preferrly starts but doesnt seem likely). Sallad runs alot and needs to be fresh for Napoli.
Torriani for Terraciano please – we need to play him…
What does Torriani have to do to get competitive game time? He’s going to be this season’s Camarda at this rate.
That is standard at Milan. Kerkez left because he didn’t get a single minute for the first team, not even in games like this. Recently, Liberali just left a few months ago. Torriani is next.
I just we win without any player getting a knock or injured since we already have a thin squad.