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Ahead of this midweek round of fixtures in Serie A, Lecce have struggled so badly that they have now slipped to rock-bottom in the Italian top-flight as they now prepare to welcome a struggling Hellas Verona side down to Apulia.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Tuesday 29th October, 2024 - UK – 5:30pm / US ET – 5:30pm / US PT – 1:30pm
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK –Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+
LECCE PREVIEW: LACKLUSTRE LECCE
In the March international break, Lecce sacked manager Roberto D’Aversa and replaced him with Luca Gotti. Gotti then managed to propel Lecce away from the bottom three and the relegation places. However, the experienced Italian coach is now coming under pressure after a really difficult start to this season.
The home team come into this one on the back of a slender 1-0 defeat to league leading Napoli in their most recent outing at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at the weekend with captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo scoring a 73rd minute winner for the Neapolitans. They have managed just one win in their opening nine matches.
HELLAS VERONA PREVIEW: STRUGGLING VERONA
After a bright-ish start to the 2024/25 Serie A campaign, Hellas Verona have badly drifted and actually have the worst defensive record in Italy’s top-flight having conceded 21 goals in their opening nine matches. They have won one of their last six matches with five defeats in that time as they drift down the table.
Their most recent outing saw them annihilated in Bergamo at the weekend against Atalanta. Paolo Zanetti’s side went to an indifferent and inconsistent Atalanta side and lost by six goals to one with Atalanta actually 5-0 up in 34 minutes before Amin Sarr got one back before half-time before Mateo Retegui completed the rout in the second-half.
LECCE TEAM NEWS: SEVERAL LECCE ISSUES
As Lecce prepare to meet Hellas Verona in Apulia this weekend, the home team are dealing with several injury issues but nothing necessarily fresh to deal with.
Filip Marchwinski is sidelined for the Apulia-based outfit along with the likes of Luis Hasa and forwards Medon Berisha and striker Kevin Bonifazi.
PREDICTED XI (4-5-1): Falcone; Pelmard, Gaspar, Baschirotto, Dorgu; Pierotti, Ramadani, Coulibaly, Rafia, Banda; Krstovic
UNAVAILABLE: Marchwinski (Injured), Hasa (Injured), Berisha (Injured), Bonifazi (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
HELLAS VERONA TEAM NEWS: DEFENSIVE ABSENTEES
Hellas Verona may well want to make changes for this week due to their form but they are blessed with no fresh injury concerns or suspension issues ahead of this one.
They do have injury issues defensively, though, as Poland international Pawel Dawidowicz is sidelined alongside Martin Frese with Abdou Harroui and Juan Manuel Cruz both out, too.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Montipo; Magnani, Coppola, Ghilardi; Tchatchoua, Belahyane, Serdar, Bradaric; Kastanos, Dailon Livramento; Sarr
UNAVAILABLE: Dawidowicz (Injured), Frese (Injured), Harroui (Injured), Juan Manuel Cruz
(Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
LECCE VS HELLAS VERONA PREDICTION
Lecce boss Luca Gotti is under pressure and it would not be a surprise to see him dismissed as soon as this weekend if they fail to pick up what appear to be a desperately needed three points in this one against Verona. Verona may attack Lecce this weekend but they are generally quite weak, even if Paolo Zanetti’s reign in charge had started well. This is a game between two under-fire and under pressure managers seeking to avoid another defeat so a low-scoring affair would seem quite likely with safety first likely to take precedence.
LECCE VS HELLAS VERONA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS