Back-to-back wins for Lecce in Serie A have put them in an advantageous position to avoid relegation heading into Saturday's gameweek 34 encounter with Monza at Stadio Via del mare.
Luca Gotti's men secured a stunning road victory at Sassuolo in gameweek 33 and seek three top-flight wins on the trot against a team without success in four league fixtures.
Match preview
Lecce secured their first-ever win over Sassuolo (across Serie A and B) at the eighth time of asking last time out, stunning the Neroverdi 3-0 in Reggio Emilia, with Valentin Gendrey, Patrick Dorgu and Roberto Piccoli scoring for Gotti's side.
That win prevented Sassuolo from halving the previous six-point deficit on Lecce but also saw the Wolves move seven clear of the bottom three clubs.
Frosinone occupy 18th, but their lack of victories (four consecutive draws) highlighted the importance of Lupi's triumph at Sassuolo in round 33.
Gotti's impact in Lecce's revival should not be underplayed, as the 13th-placed side have accrued 10 points in five league matches, one behind Bologna and Inter (11) and two adrift of Lazio (12) in that period.
Victory against Monza will see the new boss become the first Lupi boss to claim four wins in his first six Serie A matches, and that outcome all but guarantees top-flight safety for another year.
The Biancorossi could be accused of being on the beach, having failed to notch maximum points in four matches, losing three and failing to score in two — a 1-0 loss to Torino and a goalless game against Bologna.
Raffaele Palladino's men are unlikely to make a late play for the continental places, as they rank 11th, nine points adrift of seventh-placed Lazio, and cannot be relegated with 15 points separating them from 18th-placed Frosinone.
It leaves Monza battling for nothing other than a top-half finish in Serie A, a feat to outdo last season's position in 11th, and they sit just three points behind Torino, who visit champions Inter Milan this weekend.
A decent road record — five wins, five losses and six defeats — is the eighth best in the division, with 50% of those losses against the Milan clubs and Atalanta BC, pointing to a typically competitive away side.
However, Palladino hopes his players can get back to scoring on their travels, having fired blanks in consecutive away games at Torino and Bologna.
Team News
Gotti welcomes Pontus Almqvist back from suspension, with the wide attacker missing the win over Sassuolo because of a one-match suspension for picking up five yellow cards.
Kastriot Dermaku and Lameck Banda are not expected to play again this season due to knee injuries; Ylber Ramadani and Mohamed Kaba may not return for a few more weeks.
Piccoli (five goals) aims to score in consecutive Serie A games, having recently matched his best return — five with Spezia in 2020-21.
Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro returns for the visitors, having served a one-match suspension against Atalanta following a fifth yellow of the season at Bologna.
Papu Gomez is still banned for failing a doping test, and Dany Mota's ankle injury should rule out the forward this weekend.
Despite scoring eight times, Andrea Colpani is yet to find the back of the net away from home this season, last scoring a road goal at Atalanta in June 2023.
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Pongracic, Gallo; Almqvist, Rafia, Blin, Dorgu; Piccoli, Krstovic
Monza possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Izzo, Mari, Kyriakopoulos, Birindelli; Gagliardini, Colpani; Zerbin, Pessina, Bondo; Djuric
We say: Lecce 1-0 Monza
Lecce are reborn under Gatti, keeping clean sheets and winning football games again. Unbeaten in 11 of their 13 home matches across Serie A and Serie B, last losing to the Biancorossi in December 1998, the home side should avoid defeat on Saturday, with a goal settling it for the Wolves.
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