Struggling Lecce ended the three-match losing run as they held Genoa to a goalless draw, but they now face an uphill task against revived Milan. The Rossoneri returned to winning ways with an impressive victory over Palermo and are now looking to continue their climb in the Serie A standings.

Lecce in for a difficult season

Lecce are one of the usual suspects when it comes to teams expected to enter the relegation race and after narrowly surviving last few Serie A campaign, the Salentini look like they could easily go down this term. The club management tried to reinforce the squad over the summer, but with a very limited transfer budget, they couldn’t have done better than signing several unproven players and those well past their prime on loan deals and free transfers. As a result, Lecce have experienced big problems at the start to the season, having picked up just four points from first six games, and the interesting thing is that all four points were won on the travels. After losing their home games against Udinese, Atalanta and Cagliari, it is highly unlikely that Lecce will fare better against the reigning Serie A champions.

Key striker David Di Michele misses out, while Souleymane Diamoutene and Stefano Ferrario are also sidelined.

Milan back on track

Milan, too, have been far from impressive in the opening exchanges, but considering all the problems boss Massimiliano Allegri faced in that period, the under-par performances were hardly a surprise. The most important thing, however, is that the Rossoneri are slowly returning to the right track, with four wins in last five games the perfect proof. Milan are still winless on the travels this season, although having faced sides like Barcelona, Napoli and Juventus away from home, that is not such a big surprise. The Rossoneri have finally hit the ground running and are set to face one of the weakest sides in Serie A, so this looks like a perfect opportunity for Maxi Allegri’s side to finally record an away win. The talented manager still has a lengthy list of unavailable players, but also boasts a pretty big squad, meaning that he will, nevertheless, be able to field a very strong side at Via del Mare.

Gennaro Gattuso, Alexandre Pato and Mathieu Flamini remain sidelined, while Thiago Silva, Clarence Seedorf and Massimo Ambrosini are doubtful.

Verdict

Lecce have been utterly disappointing this term and after losing all three home games this season, they don’t look capable of ending the poor run against Milan. The Rossoneri are slowly raising their form and with Ibrahimovic, Cassano and Robinho again scoring goals for fun, they look like hot favourites to win this clash.

Our prediction: Milan with -1 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.87 (87/100)

Bookmaker: Stan James