AC Milan will continue their quest to the Coppa Italia final with an elite tier clash with Lecce, whose only win this season came in the previous round of the competition.
Massimiliano Allegri returned to AC Milan after over a decade and immediately changed the Rossoneri for the better. If we count out the opening match in Serie A, which ended in a shocking 2-1 defeat to Cremonese at San Siro, Milan have been flawless since then, recording three wins in a row without conceding a single goal. And one of those wins was against Lecce, whom they will meet again in Coppa Italia on Tuesday.
Lecce’s only positive moment this season was the 2-0 win over Juve Stabia in the first round of the cup. Since then, the Giallorossi have not won a domestic game and remain winless in Serie A after four rounds. They never even came close to a success and their only positive performance remains the 0-0 draw with Genoa. And after already losing to this opponent this season, Lecce’s fans have plenty of reasons for concern.
How the bookies view it: A walk in the park for the Rossoneri
While most bookies have not yet added this Coppa Italia clash to their platforms, the few that have it available already agree that AC Milan are overwhelming favourites. The trend revolves around 3/10 for Milan and 19/2 for Lecce, while the draw is available at around 9/2.
Recent head-to-head: Almost 20 years since Lecce's last win
The Giallorossi have not had a positive outing against Milan in decades. In fact, the most recent Lecce win we tracked dates back to 2006. Since then, the Rossoneri have played Lecce 15 times, winning 10 times, including the last four in a row. As we already mentioned, the teams already met in Serie A this season and Milan won 2-0 on the road. Lecce created zero danger in front of Maignan, ending the 90 minutes with two shots on target and 0.29 xG.
Players to watch: Pulisic is on a different level this season
Christian Pulisic played two solid seasons at Milan in 2023/24 and 2024/25, but has made a serious statement that the best is yet to come. The USA international already has four goals and an assist to his name this season, including a goal against Lecce in the recent H2H. Despite the obvious advantage and the recent Serie A match during the weekend, we don’t expect too many changes from Max Alegri, so Pulisic should be leading Milan’s attack once again.
Probable line-ups
AC Milan: Terracciano, Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modric, Rabiot, Estupinan, Pulisic, Gimenez
Lecce: Falcone, Gallo, Gaspar, Gabriel, Kouassi, Ramadani, Coulibaly, Sala, Sottil, Pierotti, Stulic
Anything else catch the eye?
AC Milan came close to ending their Coppa Italia drought last season and will be extra motivated to reach deep into the new edition too. Going through Lecce should be a walk in the park based on the recent encounter and the visitors’ ongoing bad form.
We expect a one-sided fixture again and Milan should move forward with a clean sheet. We don’t expect any extremes either, so we see this ending in a 2-0 or a 3-0 at best. The safest option is to skip the Over/Under market, as we can’t guarantee if Milan will be satisfied with two goals, but a clean sheet is in order.
GambleAware