Lecce vs Genoa prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-09-21 18:45.
Lecce continued their strong start to the Serie A (SA) campaign with a 1-1 draw against Monza last weekend – a result they’ll be reasonably content with given they played for more than 30 minutes with ten men. Coming into this weekend in the top-four as one of only three sides yet to lose (W2, D2) probably has fans reminiscing on their best-ever finish from the 1988/89 season (ninth), although recreating that still remains a huge task.
Coach Roberto D'Aversa refused to get carried away with the start, indicating after last weekend’s match that he wants the side to continue to “play with personality.” The hosts can take pride in starting a top-flight campaign with an unbeaten four-game run for only the third time, although ominously on the two previous occasions they lost the fifth match.
Genoa are coming off a 2-2 draw against Scudetto holders Napoli last weekend, although that result wasn’t as good as it maybe it should have been, considering they squandered a two-goal advantage, something they last did in SA in December 2019 against Lecce! Playing the same side might rekindle those memories of dropping points, but at least recent history has been kind to the visitors, who haven’t lost a SA H2H in over 30 years (W7, D5 since).
Manager Alberto Gilardino did feel “regret” for the points dropped against Napoli, but he was still content with his side’s efforts. He now needs his team to bounce back from a historic miss in their last away trip, as a 1-0 loss at Torino stopped them from becoming just the fifth newly-promoted team this century to win their first two away games of a top-flight campaign.
Players to watch: Mateo Retegui has been in the thick of the action across his last five club games (G4, A1, YC2). Up against him in a battle of new arrivals, Genoa’s Nikola Krstović has four goals across his last five matches for club and country, two of which arrived inside the opening ten minutes.
Hot streak: Lecce’s last five SA games saw the match opener arrive inside 30 minutes.