Lecce and Frosinone are separated by a place in the Serie A table heading into Saturday's gameweek 16 meeting at Stadio Via del Mare.
The home side have not won a game in Italy's top division in three months, but they could leapfrog the visiting team by ending that unwanted wait without winning.
Match preview
After Lecce beat Genoa 1-0 in September, little did the Salentini know they would wait this long to record another top-flight triumph.
Remi Oudin was the match-winner in that round, and neither the Frenchman nor his teammates have found a way to secure maximum points since the September 22 success.
A wretched run of four defeats in six (two draws) followed an undefeated five-game start to the campaign, but Roberto D'Aversa's team have recovered to play out four consecutive draws.
They seek to end that sequence of back-to-back stalemates when they welcome new boys Frosinone to Puglia on Saturday, keen to secure maximum points that take them above Saturday's opponents.
Having claimed two victories in the last four meetings between the clubs in Serie B, Lecce hope history favours them this weekend.
As for Frosinone, failure to get the better of the Salentini since 2014 worries the away side heading into round 16, even if the most recent encounter was in April 2022.
Eusebio Di Francesco's men should back themselves to claim maximum points on Saturday, but their inconsistency means success is far from guaranteed in Puglia.
They are winless on their travels since regaining promotion, with five consecutive losses suffered after starting 2023-24 with ties at Udinese (0-0) and Salernitana (1-1).
The closest Di Francesco's team have been to maximum points on their travels was the damaging 4-3 loss to fellow new boys Cagliari in October, a game that saw the visitors blow a 3-0 lead in the fixture's concluding 20 minutes.
Only two goals have been scored in the subsequent 180 minutes of action on the road, albeit against the Milan giants — Inter Milan (2-0) and AC Milan (3-1) — and Frosinone should welcome the prospect of a visit to Lecce over facing two of the league's leading clubs.
Team News
Joan Gonzalez received his fifth booking of 23-24 against Empoli, ruling out the Lecce central midfielder of Saturday's game.
Jeppe Corfitzen (shoulder) is the home side's only reported injury absentee for gameweek 16, although the teenage wide attacker was not expected to start in Puglia.
Reinier has not played since early December against Milan, and the Frosinone attacking midfielder should miss the visit to Lecce due to a muscle injury.
Riccardo Marchizza (thigh) is unlikely to feature as well, and doubts remain over the extent of Sergio Kalaj's ligament injury.
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone, Gendrey, Baschirotto, Pongracic, Dorgu; Kaba, Ramadani; Banda, Rafia, Strefezza; Piccoli
Frosinone possible starting lineup:
Turati; Lirola, Okoli, Bourabia, Oyono; Brescianini, Barrenechea, Gelli; Soule, Jorge, Ibrahimovic
We say: Lecce 2-1 Frosinone
Even though another Lecce tie should not surprise observers, we are backing D'Aversa's troops to end their extended wait for maximum points against Frosinone this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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