Lecce vs Genoa Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Lecce have slipped to just above the bottom three and the relegation places ahead of this weekend as they now take on a Genoa side that have steadied themselves in recent weeks.
Kick-off date/time: Sunday 5th January, 2025: UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
How to watch online: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+
Lecce Preview: Gotti’s Lecce
Lecce managed to propel themselves away from the bottom three and the relegation places due to the appointment of Luca Gotti at the back end of last season and Gotti’s defensive and reactive style of football does once again have them outside of the bottom three.
However, their extremely limited attacking prospects, in which they have scored just 11 goals in 18 games, do come into this one on the back of three defeats in their last four matches, most recently suffering a 2-0 defeat away to Como last weekend.
Genoa Preview: Vieira’s Genoa
Over the November international break, Genoa took the surprising decision to sack Alberto Gilardino and replace him with Patrick Vieira. Vieira has started steadily with two victories, a defeat and three draws in his opening six matches in charge.
That second victory came last weekend in Florence as they went away from home and defeated Empoli by two goals to one. Goals from Milan Badelj and Caleb Ekuban were enough to see off Empoli’s comeback, which saw Sebastiano Esposito score in the 74th minute.
Lecce Team News: Several injuries
Lecce are dealing with several injury issues ahead of the visit of Genoa with Joan Gonzalez dealing with a chest issue, whilst defensive duo Kialonda Gaspar and Andy Pelmard both have injury issues, too.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): Falcone; Dorgu, Baschirotto, Jean, Galo; Rafia, Coulibaly, Pierret; Pierotti, Krstovic, Tete Morente
Unavailable: Gaspar (Injured), Pelmard (Injured), Joan Gonzalez (Injured)
Questionable: Banda (Injured), Marchwinski (Injured), Berisha (Injured)
Genoa Team News: A few issues
Italy international Mario Balotelli is a doubt for the trip down to Apulia this weekend as he deals with illness. As well as the potential absence of Balotelli, key attacker Caleb Ekuban is missing through injury alongside Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Ruslan Malinovskiy.
Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Leali; De Winter, Bani, Johan Vasquez, Caricol; Badelj, Frendrup; Zanoli, Thorsby, Vitinha; Pinamonti
Unavailable: Norton-Cuffy (Injured), Malinovskiy (Injured), Ekuban (Injured)
Questionable: Matturro (Injured), Junior Messias (Injured), Balotelli (Illness)
Lecce vs Genoa Prediction
As mentioned, Lecce have an extremely defensive and reactive style of football that can often be quite frustrating to watch for the neutral. They have scored just 11 goals all season, six fewer than any other team in the division. Surprisingly, Patrick Vieira’s focus in the early part of his reign at Genoa has to be to sure up the defence and that means we could have quite an attritional encounter down in Apulia this weekend.
Lecce vs Genoa Tip: Under 2.5 goals
