Best odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
On Saturday afternoon, Lecce will be hosting AS Roma at the Stadio Ettore Giardiniero Via del Mare within the 22nd round of the 2022/23 Serie A roller coaster.
Lecce
Season after season, Lecce appear to be among those teams of insufficient quality to play in one of Europe s top five leagues, but at the same time, too good for the second tier. After spending two years in the Serie B, they earned promotion ahead of this season, and they seem not to be doing too badly at this point.
Sitting in 14th place with 23 points, there s a nine-point gap between Lecce and Hellas Verona who top the relegation zone, with Sassuolo (also 23), Salernitana (21) and Spezia (18) currently in between.
Interestingly enough, Lecce lost only two of their last six matches in all competitions, both to teams stationed below them in the table. The run starts with a 2-1 win over Lazio. Then they drew 0-0 away to Spezia, drew 2-2 at home against AC Milan, lost 2-0 away to Verona, lost 1-2 at home to Salernitana, and beat Cremonese away by 0-2.
The goals that brought the points in that last game for Marco Baroni s team were the work of Federico Baschirotto in the 58th and Gabriel Strefezza in the 69th minute.
Team News
Baroni will likely be without the services of midfielder Youssef Maleh (ankle), while defenders Kastriot Dermaku (groin strain) and Marin Pongracic (ankle) remain out of action.
Wladimiro Falcone should be in goal, with Baschirotto and Samuel Umtiti in the heart of defence, flanked by Giuseppe Pezzella and Valentin Gendrey. Alexis Blin is expected to anchor the midfield consisting of Joan Gonzalez and Morten Hjulmand. Striker Lorenzo Colombo will probably be have wingers Streffezza and Federico Di Francesco in support.
AS Roma
For Roma, it has been a very good season so far, a reasonably successful attempt to build on the achievements of 2021/22, when they won the first-ever edition of the Europa Conference League.
At the moment, the Giallorossi are in fourth place with 40 points, three less than Inter Milan in second and one less than AC Milan in third, after the Rossoneri triumphed over Torino on Friday evening. A win in Lecce would obviously take Jose Mourinho s team in front of the reigning Serie A champions again. City rivals Lazio are directly behind with 39, followed by Atalanta in sixth place with 38. With Napoli gone beyond anyone s hope of catching up, topping the table at 56, it s quite obvious that these five teams will be competing for the remaining three places leading into next season s Champions League, so it s up to Roma to try and keep hold of their current position if they can, at least.
Roma s last-six run would be a very decent one, had it not been for the shocking exit from the Coppa Italiana in the quarterfinals at the hands of bottom-side Cremonese. Taking a look at the list in due order, they beat Genoa in the round of 16 of the cup 1-0 at home, Fiorentina 2-0 at home, Spezia 0-2 away, lost 2-1 away to Napoli, suffered that 1-2 shocker at home against Cremonese, and bounced back with a 2-0 home victory over Empoli.
There has been a bit of news regarding the club bearing the name of the ancient Italian capital in the last couple of days. After failing to negotiate an exit during the January transfer window, , with the window in Turkey open a bit longer than in most countries.
Team News
The only Roma player certain to miss this match is wing-back Leonardo Spinazzola, who will need another month to return from a hamstring injury.
With Rui Patricio in goal, the trio of Gianluca Mancini, Chris Smalling and Roger Ibanez should form the last line in front of the Portuguese shot-stopper. With Bryan Cristante and Nemanja Matic providing steel in the middle of the park, Nicola Zalewski should come into the team instead of Spinazzola, while Stephan El Shaarawy covers the other flank. Tammy Abraham is expected to lead the line upfront, with Paulo Dybala and Lorenzo Pellegrini in support.
Conclusion
If Roma want to play in the Champions League next season, games like this simply have to be won, without disrespect to Lecce. Anything is possible, of course, but looking at it from this side of the kickoff, it s hard to imagine any other outcome but an away win.
Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 19/20
Bookmaker:
