A scrappy Juventus head to the Stadio Via del Mare, battling for a much-needed Serie A victory over perennial strugglers Lecce. Anything short of three points in Puglia would significantly reduce Luciano Spalletti’s chances of staying in the dugout after the November international break.
Confidence should be high for Lecce, who snapped a two-game losing streak after a 3-0 win over Udinese last weekend. More importantly, the win moved Eusebio Di Francesco’s side five points clear of the bottom three heading into this round and took some of the pressure off the former Sassuolo and Roma boss.
Lecce have now won back-to-back Serie A matches for the first time since the last two rounds of last season, a feat that has only been achieved twice in the entire 2025/26 season. However, the opposite side will be eager to get back to winning ways after a very disappointing week highlighted by a horrendous 3-0 defeat at home to Lazio.
Juventus were unable to adequately respond to that encouraging result as Rennes held them to a 2-2 draw in midweek in the Europa League, increasing the pressure on Spalletti, whose arrival last October failed to spark a revival in Turin. Spalletti, with four points separating his team from fourth-placed Milan, could face another slip-up here.
Match preview
Lecce
Despite their impressive performance at the Bluenergy Stadium last weekend, Lecce cannot rest on their laurels, knowing it was only their second win in six Serie A matches (M4). Moreover, Lecce will need to punch above their weight here if they want to build on this triumph, which has rarely been associated with Di Francesco in recent years.
For context, the hosts have picked up just one point from their last nine league clashes against teams that started the day in the top half. As if that wasn’t worrying enough, they have failed to get on the scoresheet in their last six such matches, giving little hope of taking advantage of Juventus’ rough patch. And it gets worse.
Lecce have beaten Juventus just once in their last 20 Serie A matches (D5, 14) while losing four of their last seven outings at the Via del Mare (2G, 1B). In fact, only Inter (13) have handed the Giallorossi more home defeats in their top-flight history than their next opponents (12).
Juventus
History may be on Juventus’ side here, but Spalletti would be naive to take things for granted as things could spiral out of control sooner rather than later. Anything but a win here would leave Juventus less than 14 points after opening eight consecutive rounds for the first time since the late 1970s.
This does not even begin to show the depth of the crisis in Turin. Juventus have won just one of their last five Serie A games (D2, L2) and are winless at home after defeating newly promoted Frosinone in the first round (D1, L1). However, they have lost just once in their last ten road trips (W5, D4), offering Spalletti some comfort ahead of this must-win encounter.
The fact that Juventus’ last away defeat to Lecce was in 2011 can give extra confidence. The record-tying Italian champions have since gone unbeaten despite conceding a clean sheet 5 times in Serie A away to Via del Mare (W4, D2).
Team News
Lassana Coulibaly and Santiago Pierotti were injured last week and will not be at Di Francesco’s disposal for this match. They will join Ivan Ilic and Medon Berisha on the outside, leaving the Lecce manager with limited options in the middle of the park. There is a bigger problem for Di Franceso, with three centre-forwards William Geubbels, Nikola Stulic and Paco Esteban yet to score this season.
Juventus have two more names on their ever-growing injury list as Zeki Celik and Nico Gonzalez are expected to make early appearances against Rennes on Thursday. Francisco Conceicao, Kenan Yıldız, Khephren Thuram, Jeff Ekhator, Kamil Grabara and Manuel Locatelli are also unavailable, leaving Spalletti with some tough choices that could prove a make-or-break match for the veteran coach.
Lecce vs Juventus potential starting lineups
Lecce (4-3-3): Falcon; Veiga, Gabriel, Gaspar, Gallo; News, Mother, Lazy; N’Dri, Geubbels, Monteiro.
Juventus (3-4-1-2): Viceroy; Kalulu, Bremer, Lukumi; McKennie, Luiz, Sarr, Cambiaso; Alajbegovic; Kolo Muani, Woltemade.
Lecce vs Juventus
It’s hard to expect an injury-plagued Juventus to pick up three points in Puglia, but the visitors should have enough quality to get the job done. Lecce’s misfire could be their undoing against superior opposition.
Prediction: Juventus will win
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