AC Milan vs Lecce prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-04-22 16:00.
AC Milan’s players and staff might still be recovering from securing their first UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-final appearance since 2006/07 (incidentally, the last time they lifted the coveted trophy) after beating Serie A (SA) league-leaders Napoli 2-1 on aggregate. Yet Milan won’t be leaving Italian borders any time soon, even whilst chasing European club football’s most elite piece of silverware, as they’ll now meet fierce city rivals Inter Milan in the semi-finals!
The Rossoneri might need to put all their eggs in the UCL basket once reality hits regarding their recent league form, as winning only one of their last six SA matches (D3, L2), coupled with Juventus’ points deduction being reversed, has them currently sitting outside the top-four spots. Manager Stefano Pioli will have his work cut out should he wish to get his side back to winning ways, considering they’ve drawn their last two league matches immediately following a UCL game.
Lecce manager Marco Baroni will also be pondering what it will take for his side to secure all three points on the SA stage, since they’ve failed to do so in their last seven attempts (D1, L6) with the relegation zone lurking just over their shoulder. This task becomes all the more difficult when taking on Milan, as Lecce have only ever won two of 40 H2Hs (D14, L24).
The Yellow and Reds will be on red alert when they hit the road here, after their last three away games all ended in scoreless defeats. This has helped Lecce retain their infamous tag of accumulating the fewest clean sheets this SA season with only three, although they are remarkably still the only top-flight side yet to concede 3+ goals in a match in 2022/23.
Players to watch: Rafael Leão, Milan’s hero after assisting both their goals in their UCL tie, will be keen to become the goalscorer here, having scored in back-to-back games against Lecce. Visiting Assan Ceesay might beat him to the prize, though, having scored the match opener with eight of his last 11 strikes.
Hot stat: Only two of Lecce’s last 10 away matches have seen both sides score on the day.