Overview
After a late defeat to Parma last weekend, Pisa is still at the bottom of the Serie A table and needs a miracle to stay in the league.
Even if the Tuscanian team defeats Lecce in the upcoming key match, they can still officially be relegated if Cremonese wins against Lazio.
After three decades of returning to the highest league in Italy, Pisa is facing the risk of relegation for the sixth time in 8 seasons in Serie A, including the last two in the 1988-1989 and 1990-1991 seasons.
Oscar Hiljemark's team is deeply mired in crisis when losing 5 consecutive matches, only scoring 1 goal. In the top 5 European national championships, no team has a fewer wins than them this season.
Since taking over in February, Hiljemark has not made a clear mark. Pisa has only won 2 out of 17 home matches, making the relegation task almost impossible. Even if they win all 12 points in the last 4 rounds, they are still not sure they can escape danger.
In the opposite direction, Lecce's relegation opportunity is still within reach. Eusebio Di Francesco's team is directly competing with Cremonese and is temporarily in the relegation group after the important draw with Hellas Verona.
The 0-0 result at Stadio Bentegodi helps Lecce maintain the advantage, as they only need to achieve a result equivalent to Cremonese in the last 4 rounds. However, Lecce's form is also not very positive.
They have only won 2 points in the last 6 matches and scored only 2 goals. Notably, Lecce has only had 10 goals from live ball situations throughout the season, showing a serious shortage of a key striker.
Their last 8 goals in Serie A came from 8 different players. Among them is Nikola Stulic, who scored the decisive goal when Pisa visited the Stadio Via del Mare in December. If he repeats that, he could bring great relief to the worried Giallorossi fans.
Personnel situation
Pisa is still missing Matteo Tramoni, Marius Marin and Daniel Denoon due to injury, but can welcome the return of Nigerian striker Rafiu Durosinmi.
After being absent from the loss to Parma, Durosinmi will likely compete for a starting position with Filip Stojilkovic and Henrik Meister, supporting Stefano Moreo.
In defense, Arturo Calabresi lost his starting position to Rosen Bozhinov in the match at Tardini, but Oscar Hiljemark could change his selection this round.
On Lecce's side, defender Tiago Gabriel is ready to return to the starting lineup after serving his suspension. However, the away team still suffered personnel losses when Medon Berisha, Kialonda Gaspar and Sadik Fofana were absent due to injury, while Riccardo Sottil has not fully recovered due to back problems.
The positive news is that Francesco Camarda has returned after a long period of injury recovery, and Santiago Pierotti has also returned to normal training after a minor muscle injury.
Expected lineup:
Pisa: Semper, Caracciolo, Canestrelli, Calabresi, Leris, Vural, Aebischer, Akinsanmiro, Angori, Moreo, Meister.
Lecce: Falcone, Veiga, Siebert, Gabriel, Gallo, Ramadani, Coulibaly, Pierotti, Gandelman, Banda, Stulic.
The match between Pisa and Lecce takes place at 1:45 AM on May 2nd (Vietnam time).
