AC Milan vs Lecce Prediction: 6/1 tip screams home comfort

In-form AC Milan will be looking to record a second victory over Lecce in the space of barely three weeks when the two sides meet in the Coppa Italia second round at San Siro on Tuesday (21:00 local, 20:00 BST).

The Rossoneri were 2-0 winners over the Salentini in Puglia at the end of August and have since won another two Serie A matches without conceding. My AC Milan vs Lecce predictions are below, alongside the latest team news and Betfred’s full match odds.

Team News

Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri will rotate his side to a fair degree, and can even watch them from the touchline this time having served a ban at Udinese on Saturday following a red card late on against Bologna the previous weekend.

Mike Maignan could be a welcome addition, with the French goalkeeper nearing a return after limping out of that 1-0 win over Bologna with a calf injury. Pietro Terracciano has had the gloves since then, but could step aside if the first choice shot-stopper is declared fit.

In defence, Koni De Winter is likely to get a start in place of Strahinja Pavlovic having come on as a sub for the Serbian in each of the last two matches.

Luka Modric will be rested, with Christian Pulisic also likely to be told to put his feet up. Samuele Ricci and Christopher Nkunku are in line for starts as a result.

For Lecce, Danilo Veiga looks set to start at right back in place of Christ-Owen Kouassi, while Ipswich Town youth product Corrie Nbada could take up the other full-back slot having made his Serie A debut against Cagliari on Saturday.

There could be a host of changes made by Eusebio Di Francesco in attacking positions, with Mohamed Kaba, Lameck Banda, Konan N’Dri and Francesco Camarda among those queuing up for a starting jersey.

AC Milan vs Lecce Odds

The Rossoneri are massive favourites to progress, with Betfred pricing them up at 2/9 for the win in 90 minutes and 1/8 to progress any which way.

Lecce are a 10/1 chance to shock the hosts in normal time, and are 9/2 to go through to the round of 16.

You can get 9/2 about the draw, while Milan are 15/8 giving up a two-goal start in the handicap markets.

Today's Football Fixtures

Milan to win both halves @ 7/5

While Milan won 2-0 in Lecce recently, the truth was that they were much better than that. And the same can be said of their 3-0 success at Udinese on Saturday.

The Rossoneri might not be the Milan of old – there are no Maldinis, Shevchenkos or Seedorfs here – but they still have a clear edge over teams of the standard of their last few opponents.

Even against Bologna, the team who beat them to the Coppa Italia in May’s final, they looked the most likely to win long before Luka Modric’s winner at San Siro.

So I’ve got to expect that they show their superiority again on Tuesday night. And so long as the likes of Santi Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku can make the most of the chances that are sure to come their way, Allegri’s side should have far too much for Lecce.

An early goal should set the stall out, and off the back of that it would surprise nobody with an Italian football knowledge base to see the Rossoneri go on and win both halves at 7/5.

Football Odds

Correct Score: Milan 3-0 @ 6/1

There should be an element of comfort about this one for Milan. While Allegri will rotate to some degree, the lack of European football in their calendar means that he can afford to give game time to some of his regulars.

Meanwhile, Di Francesco will make a number of changes in a bid to keep a number of his first-teamers fresh for this weekend’s Serie A clash with Bologna.

Being that they are bottom of the league after four games, there’s a need to focus on picking up points first and foremost.

So an early Milan lead is a fair possibility, and if they get a comfortable advantage the tools could well be downed by both sides long before the final whistle.

That’s why I expect a three-goal margin, with the Rossoneri not needing to go any bigger and the Salentini being short on motivation to go chasing the game in any huge way if they fall behind.

The 6/1 price implies a 14.3% probability of this coming in, but I count that on the small side.

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