This season, the home team has had mixed results, but they are well on their way to staying in the top division for another year. Federico Baschirotto and Gabriel Strefezza scored in the second half of their away victory over Cremonese, who were in last place, to get them back on track. With 23 points from 21 games, Lecce are 14th in the league. They will now try to build on their most recent victory and keep trying to get into the top half.
Roma are currently enjoying a good run of league play and want to get back into the Champions League. After losing to Cremonese earlier this month in the Coppa Italia, Jose Mourinho’s team won their league game last weekend 2-0 against Empoli.
Prediction
Lecce will be looking to build on their recent win, which ended a four-game losing streak. However, they have only won two home games this season and may struggle here.
In the Serie A, Roma has won three of their last four games and only one of their last eight. This season, they have done well in the league when playing on the road, and they should win this weekend.
Prediction: Roma 1-2 Lecce
Head-to-Head
- Lecce and Roma have gotten together 22 times. While the visitors have won 16 of those games, the hosts have only won one. Between the two teams, there have been five draws.
- In this matchup, the visitors have won their last four games.
- Since 1997, the hosts have not kept a clean sheet in their last 20 games in this matchup.
- This season, only three of Lecce’s eight league defeats have come at home.
- This season, Roma have scored 21 points in league games played on the road. More have been scored than Napoli, league leaders with 28.
- This season, the Giallorossi have scored 28 goals in Serie A, the fewest of any European-based team in the Italian top flight.
Team news
Due to a thigh injury, wing back Leonardo Spinazzola will not play for the visitors until the middle of March. As a result, either Zeki Celik or Stephan El Shaarawy join Nicola Zalewski on the flanks.
While Marin Pongracic (ankle) and Kastriot Dermaku (thigh) remain out, loan signing Youssef Maleh (ankle) remains a major concern for Lecce.
Lorenzo Colombo, Federico Di Francesco, and Brazilian winger Gabriel Strefezza provide support at the front for the home team, which typically employs a 4-3-3 formation.
This season, Strefezza has scored seven goals for Serie A, more than any other player; representing 33% of the league total for Lecce.
Lineup
Lecce:
- Falcone;
- Gendrey, Baschirotto, Umtiti, Pezzella;
- Blin, Hjulmand, Gonzalez;
- Strefezza, Colombo, Di Francesco
Roma:
- Patricio;
- Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez;
- Zalewski, Cristante, Matic, El Shaarawy;
- Pellegrini, Dybala;
- Abraham
Betting tips
Result: Roma
Goals – Over/Under 2.5 – Over 2.5 goals (Six of the teams’ last seven games have seen more than 2.5 goals scored) Both teams to score: Yes, as both teams have scored in five of their last six encounters.
Where to watch
Sports 18 Network holds the rights to broadcast Serie A games in India, with streaming on JioCinema.