GdS: Predicted XIs for Milan vs. Lecce – one forced change from Inter win

AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca seems to have settled on the team that he will field tonight against Lecce, and he will keep almost all of the XI that won the derby.

According to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), Fonseca will field the same defence of Emerson Royal, Matteo Gabbia, Fikayo Tomori and Theo Hernandez ahead of the goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

The change will come in midfield given that Alvaro Morata is not at 100% and is thus expected to start on the bench. There will therefore be a switch back to a more obvious 4-2-3-1 after the successful derby experiment, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek taking the Spaniard’s place.

Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders will remain in the engine room as the double pivot and the rest of the side will also stay the same, with Christian Pulisic on the right wing, Rafael Leao on the left and Tammy Abraham up front.

It seems quite an obvious ploy from Fonseca to try and build on the victory over Inter with continuity rather than rotating heavily, despite the fact a game against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League beckons next Tuesday.

Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson, Gabbia, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Abraham.

Predicted Lecce XI (4-2-3-1): Falcone; Pelmard, Gaspar, Baschirotto, Gallo; Ramadani, Coulibaly; Morente, Oudin, Dorgu; Krstovic.