Leeds United vs AC Milan
There is something of a Serie A invasion going on in England and Ireland this weekend. Roma are playing at Everton on Saturday, while Lazio visit Burnley, and just across the water in Dublin there’s a Club Friendly of two mega clubs when Leeds United make the short journey to meet Scudetto hopefuls AC Milan.
Daniel Farke’s Leeds have enjoyed a decent pre-season, with a draw against Villarreal last time out, and they have one more warm-up to play before they embark on a new Premier League season.
Meanwhile, Max Allegri’s AC Milan could well be in the Serie A title race mix this season after a disappointing campaign in 2024-25, and I Rossoneri are reloading and are ready to challenge.
Farke struggling to keep his men fit
The Club Friendly 2025 betting odds predict a tough campaign for Leeds, but the Whites will go into the new season with confidence after storming the Championship last term, winning the league on goal difference with 100 points in the bag. Farke will have certain teams in his sights as well as the other two promoted teams, Burnley and Sunderland. Wolves, West Ham United, and particularly Brentford, who have lost manager Thomas Frank and some key players, will all be catchable and a quick start would make all the difference.
The Yorkshire side has brought in some quality reinforcements in midfielder Anton Stach from Hoffenheim for a fee of £17 million and Slovenian defender Jaka Bijol from Udinese. But the £15 million capture from Lyon, Lucas Perri, is one of a number of players with fitness issues, just over a week before the new season begins. The Brazilian keeper hasn’t appeared so far and is struggling to shrug off a light injury he carried when he arrived at Elland Road.
Winger Daniel James, who was so influential during Leeds’ promotion campaign, also missed the draw with the Yellow Submarine, but the manager says he is closer to fitness and may be in contention to face Milan.
Midfielder Jack Harrison, on loan at Everton last season, and defender Jayden Bogle are both carrying knocks, while big defender Sebastiaan Bornauw suffered in an injury in training, and he looks highly unlikely to make the start of the season.
Farke will hope he can get over these injury worries quickly as this will be a long and arduous campaign, and he doesn’t want his team to be playing catch-up.
Milan’s top four mission
With a disappointing eighth placed finish last season under Sergio Conceicao, I Rossoneri will now have an involuntary year off European football. But as invariably happens, that will give them an edge over their busier top four rivals. The pre-season SBOTOP odds make Allegri’s team one of four who will contest the title, alongside 2025 champions Napoli, Inter Milan, and Juventus, with AS Roma as an outside bet.
With players of the calibre of USA captain Christian Pulisic, Portuguese winger Rafael Leao, and English centre back Fikayo Tomori in the group, this is a squad with an impressive base, and Milan have spent freely this summer to strengthen their chances.
I Rossoneri have already recruited highly rated defencive midfielder Samuel Ricci from Torino for €23 million and flying wing-back Pervis Estupinan from Brighton for also €23 million. And of course, Real Madrid and Croatia legend Luka Modric joined Milan at the start of the transfer window, and he is sure to be an influential character both on and off the pitch.
The big Club Friendly 2025 news coming out of the San Siro this week concerns another exciting signing, with the confirmation that AC Milan have come to an agreement with Club Brugge to buy creative midfielder Ardon Jashari. I Rossoneri have been pursuing the player for weeks and have finally come to an agreement with a €39 million deal acceptable to all parties.
A young player with an old head on his shoulders, Jashari is superbly composed on the ball and has great vision, and his former Brugge coach says he is a born leader. With Modric as a mentor, this could be the perfect move for the 23-year-old Swiss star, who already has four full international caps. This is a big year for Milan. Allegri is a winner, and he will want his team to play in his image, determined, innovative, and ruthless. I Rossoneri have bought well to add to an already strong squad, and they are definitely up for the challenge of winning a 20th Scudetto, a title they picked up as recently as 2022.
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