AC MILAN v LECCE: THE BRIEFING

It is Luca Gotti's Lecce in the way of AC Milan getting a fifth consecutive league win. After three away games, the Rossoneri are back in action at San Siro to kick off a huge month that will go a long way to deciding the destiny of this season. In our Briefing, let's have a look at three themes linked to matchday 31 in Serie A against the Salentini.

KEEPING THE RUN GOING AGAINST A SIDE ON THE UP
If the Rossoneri come into the game after a month of only victories (6/6 between the league and the Europa League), the side from Salento are in a tough period patch and in the midst of a fight to stay in Serie A. In Gotti's two games in charge, however, Lecce have collected four points: a win in Salerno (1-0) and a goalless draw against Roma. Points that have been good for morale and league standings for a team that has failed to find the back of the net by themselves since the sensational comeback against Fiorentina on February 2. In fact, the only two goals bagged by Lecce in the last two months have been own goals. Continuing the excellent form shown and seizing what is up for grabs is the first objective of Pioli's side, but full attention will be needed throughout the entire 90 minutes at San Siro. Lecce have won almost half of their points (14 out of 29) in the last 20 minutes of play.

SET-PIECE THREAT
In 2023/24, AC Milan have managed to reverse a trend from past seasons, where they gained very little, offensively, from dead-ball situations. Recently, though, goals from these situations have come mainly in the Europa League: Rennes and Slavia Prague. The last three league goals from set-pieces have all come away from home - Okafor in Udine, Gabbia in Frosinone, and Chukwueze in Verona - and the last home joy in Serie A dates back to almost two months ago, Giroud against Roma. The match against the side from Salento is an opportunity to reverse this trend: a match that promises to be a tight affair may be decided by episodes, and finding some dead-ball threat, which is part of the fabric of this team, would also "avenge" the reverse fixture, when Lecce's fightback was triggered by Sansone's goal that came from the development of a corner.

SQUAD ROTATION TO MANAGE RESOURCES
The mantra is to take one game at a time, that's clear. But there is no doubt that the starting eleven selections and substitute decisions made during the game will also have to be made based on the near future, i.e. the two-legged Europa League clash with Roma, which will then be followed up by league fixtures with Sassuolo and Inter, respectively. In this sense, a quick look must be made at the disciplinary situation, with Loftus-Cheek suspended and Musah, Thiaw and Tomori all one booking away (with the English defender in turn suspended for the midweek European game). Another look, however, goes towards squad rotation to measure the strength of a team which, with the imminent return of Pobega, can almost count on a full squad of players: the only exception is Kalulu. From a potential starting alternation between Giroud and Jović to others during the match in progress, such as Chukwueze-Pulisic or Leão-Okafor to give two examples, AC Milan v Lecce will be a match in which tactical choices will not be made only based on the 90 minutes at San Siro.

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