Sunday, January 16, 2011

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16-01-2011 20:45 Lecce - Milan

Clawing Out Of Relegation

Before their trip to Rome last weekend, Lecce had not won a single match on the road all campaign. Having garnered just one point from a possible 27, the Giallorossi were headed for a ninth away defeat as they took to the pitch against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.

The competitiveness of Italian football was exhibited in that match as Lecce won 2-1 to register their maiden victory away from home this season. The three points came as a huge boost to the Lupi's chances of staving off the drop even though they remain third from bottom with 18 points from 19 matches, just one point from safety.

Lecce have registered four victories in nine home matches and would be buoyant of getting something from their encounter with Milan. However, in their last five home fixtures they have won in just once.

Hoping For An Easy Time

Milan started the 2010-11 campaign with a 4-0 destruction of Lecce at San Siro and with the second half of the round of the fixtures in the league set to commence this weekend Massimiliano Allegri's side will aspire for a similar result.

Last weekend the former Italian and European champions were held to an enthralling 4-4 draw by Udinese in Milan in what was the best game in Serie A this season. Alexandre Pato, Antonio Cassano and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all played key roles in what was a vivid demonstration of the Diavolo's attackline.

Milan have a formidable away record as well as they have won six of the nine league fixtures on the road. Having conceded just seven goals away from home, Allegri's defensive unit appears to hold the fortress well on opposition grounds and against Lecce they will be keen on maintaining this result.

TEAM NEWS

Lecce

Giuliatto, Reginiussen, Olivera and Ofere are out injured. Piatti will be deployed as the creator-in-chief behind Di Michele and Corvia in a 4-3-2-1 formation.

Milan

Abbiati, Boateng, Zambrotta, Inzaghi and Pirlo are injured and are unavailable for the trip to Lecce. Flamini is likely to be slotted into the midfield.

Prediction
Anything other than a victory for Milan will be hugely surprising.

Lecce 0-3 Milan