Lecce vs Roma

Bottom-half strugglers Lecce and top-four hopefuls Roma will trade tackles at the Stadio Via del Mare in a competitive-looking Serie A fixture.

After a wasteful four-match winless run in Serie A (D2, L2), Lecce eased past whipping boys Cremonese 2-0 on the road last time out and could now register back-to-back clean sheets in the top flight for the first time since 2012. In order to achieve that feat, ‘I Salentini’ will have to hold Roma at bay in a Serie A match for the first time since 2000. Indeed, they have since failed to shut ‘I Giallorossi’ out in 19 consecutive league H2Hs, conceding an average of 2.4 goals per match. But since only three sides have taken three points away from Via del Mare this season (W2, D5, L3), Marco Baroni’s men won’t roll over. Adding to this sentiment, they’ve only lost one of their four home league encounters against sides starting this round in the top six (W2, D1).

On the other hand, visiting Roma bounced back from a 2-1 defeat at pacesetters Napoli with a routine 2-0 home win over mid-table Empoli last weekend, scoring twice within the opening six minutes to seal a massive victory. Indeed, with fellow top-four contenders AC Milan, Atalanta, and Lazio all dropping points in the previous round, Jose Mourinho’s men have climbed to third in the Serie A table. But with sixth-placed Milan only two points below, ‘I Giallorossi’ can ill-afford to get complacent, even though they could be safe in the knowledge they’ve won their last three top-flight meetings with Lecce by an aggregate score of 7-1.