Lecce vs AC Milan

Defending Serie A champions AC Milan take a trip to Stadio Via del Mare to meet mid-table Lecce in a must-win clash.

Lecce head into proceedings amid a purple patch as last weekend’s tepid 0-0 draw at Spezia extended their unbeaten Serie A streak to five matches (W3, D2). Marco Baroni’s side claimed a come-from-behind 2-1 win over a more heavily fancied Lazio in their latest home league outing, which may inspire their bid to go six consecutive Serie A games without losing for the first time since 2012. Incidentally, that was the last year they kept back-to-back clean sheets in the top flight. However, Lecce’s disastrous H2H fortunes against Milan may douse any ember of optimism in the home camp, with ‘I Salentini’ picking up just three wins in their 32 Serie A encounters against ‘I Rossoneri,’ most recently beating them 1-0 in 2006.

Since that defeat, Milan have gone unbeaten in eight successive Serie A meetings with Lecce (W5, D3), including an overwhelming 4-1 victory in their most recent visit to Via del Mare in June 2020. However, Stefano Pioli’s men have experienced a difficult past week, wasting a 2-0 lead in a dramatic 2-2 Serie A draw with Roma before losing 1-0 to Torino after extra-time in midweek Coppa Italia action. ‘I Rossoneri’ launched the new calendar year with a 2-1 win at Salernitana, ending a run of back-to-back away league matches without winning (D1, L1). But they’ve not won on consecutive top-flight travels since mid-October. Additionally, after playing out a dismal 0-0 draw with Cremonese on the stroke of the World Cup break, Milan could fail to score in two straight Serie A games against promoted sides for the first time since 2016.