Soccer Italy Serie A Prediction

Lecce vs Spezia - Match Preview

⚽ 21 May 2023 - 10:30 GMT +0

A relegation-threatened Lecce was left heartbroken in the last Serie A (SA) round as they conceded a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw against top-four contenders Lazio, leaving them with just a point to show for their endeavours. Picking up just one win from their last 12 league outings (D2, L9) has seen them crash towards the relegation zone, and they hold just a two-point cushion to safety ahead of this relegation ‘six-pointer’ against Spezia.

Marco Baroni’s men can perhaps take inspiration from the fact that their only win from that aforementioned run came here at the end of April against Udinese (1-0). However, they’ve complicated their push to extend their SA stay with a 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Verona in their last home outing, which not only saw them miss the chance to open up clear daylight to the drop but also evidenced their offensive problems as the Salentini has scored only three goals across their last six outings here.

Spezia put an end to their dreadful eight-game winless run which saw them fall into the bottom three with an impressive 2-0 victory over reigning champions Milan last time out. With just two points separating 16th and 18th coming into this round, and with just three games remaining this season, this game has a ‘now or never’ feel to it if they are to overhaul a two-point deficit to Lecce.

Unfortunately for Leonardo Semplici’s men, this matchup comes on the road, where only rock-bottom Sampdoria have picked up fewer points than the visitors this season (W2, D4, L11). Encouragingly though, Spezia has been able to mix it with the sides around them in the table, losing just once this season when facing opponents currently sitting 16th or below (W2, D4), including a goalless draw in the reverse fixture.

📋 Players to watch: It was a round of firsts for both Lecce’s Rémi Oudin, who netted his first two goals in SA last time out, and also for Spezia defender Przemyslaw Wisniewski, who celebrated his premier strike in the Italian top-flight when scoring a late winner against Milan!

⚡ Hot stat: None of Lecce’s seven SA matches against fellow bottom-five sides has seen more than two goals scored.