There has been a lot of talk so far about AC Milan being in crisis this season, and yet tonight they have a chance to go top of the table, at least for now.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport writes this morning, Milan have already faced accusations this season of being a listless team, one in dire straits, one that concedes too many goals and leaves too many points on the table, with the fate of Paulo Fonseca is at stake.

There is some truth to all of this, but the same Milan could spend Friday night at the top of the table. They have eight points and at 8:45 p.m. CEST they are play at home against Leccemeaning a win would see them draw level with Torino on 11 points.

The downside of this is that there is no middle ground and without a win the story would be reversed after an impressive derby win. Furthermore, there are 17 teams with between five and eleven points in the table, so any team there that doesn’t get a result is at risk of crashing out.

A win would see Milan return to first place after almost a year and it has been 343 days since they were last at the top of the table. Milan secured top spot on October 7, 2023 with the dramatic win in Genoa and lost it again on October 20 after a home defeat against Juventus.

After this game, Milan experienced the terrible crisis of October: 0-1 at home to Juve, three goals conceded away against Paris Saint-Germain, a 2-2 away against Napoli after blowing a two-goal lead, and a home defeat against Udinese.

Fonseca is expected to retain ten players from the eleven that beat Inter, with Alvaro Morata missing through injury (but still given a place on the bench) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek coming on. 70,000 fans are expected to cheer on the team for first place.