Overview
Juventus is entering a decisive stage in the race to win a Champions League spot, but successive setbacks have put Luciano Spalletti's team in a difficult position. After missing the opportunity to surpass AC Milan, they are now only one point ahead of Roma in the top 4 battle, while Como is also not completely eliminated from the race.
The 0-0 draw against Milan last weekend was disappointing, but the performance against Hellas Verona was even more worrying. Despite completely overwhelming the relegated opponent, Juventus still had to rely on Dusan Vlahovic's late equalizer from a free kick to avoid a humiliating defeat.
However, Juventus still shows certain stability under Spalletti. They have won 19 points in the last 9 rounds of Serie A - only behind Napoli - and have only conceded 5 goals in that streak. The Turin team also has a 10-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and kept a clean sheet in three consecutive away trips.
Head-to-head history is also on Juventus' side. They have only lost one of their last 12 trips to Lecce's stadium in Serie A, and that only defeat happened more than 10 years ago.
However, Lecce is currently fighting for survival. The Southern Italian team has not won against Juventus in the last 11 encounters, although they once drew 1-1 right in Turin at the beginning of the season. A similar result will certainly be considered a great success for Eusebio Di Francesco's team.
Lecce is trying to stay in Serie A for the fifth consecutive season and is currently 4 points ahead of the relegation group when the season is only three rounds away. After a 6-match streak of only getting 2 points, the 2-1 victory over Pisa in the most recent round has brought a great morale boost to the yellow-red team.
Notably, in the last 5 seasons, only Frosinone in the 2023-2024 season has been relegated despite winning at least 32 points after 35 rounds.
Personnel situation
After Dusan Vlahovic returned in the previous round, Juventus currently almost has full force for the final sprint of the season. Only Juan Cabal and Arkadiusz Milik are definitely absent due to injury.
The Serbian striker is likely to be given a starting opportunity by Spalletti against Lecce, in the context that Jonathan David is declining in form. However, the Italian strategist also does not rule out the possibility of continuing to use the false number 9 system as in some recent matches.
On the other side, Lecce continues to place high hopes on Lameck Banda - the player who directly participated in the team's most goals in Serie A this season with 7 times, at least twice more than any other teammate.
After scoring against Juventus in the first leg, the Zambian winger is expected to continue to create breakthroughs behind center forward Walid Cheddira. However, Cheddira still has to compete for a starting spot with Nikola Stulic and young talent Francesco Camarda.
Expected lineup:
Lecce: Falcone, Veiga, Siebert, Gabriel, Gallo, Ramadani, Coulibaly, Ngom, Pierotti, Cheddira, Banda.
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Kalulu, Bremer, Kelly, Cambiaso, Thuram, Locatelli, Conceicao, McKennie, Yildiz, Vlahovic.
The match between Lecce and Juventus takes place at 1:45 a.m. on May 10 (Vietnam time).
