Lecce vs Lazio prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-12-20 19:45.
[p]This calendar year has certainly not been a prolific one in terms of goal scoring for Lecce, but after they netted twice in a Serie A game for only the second time this season whilst beating Monza 2-1 on Sunday, the Yellow and Reds begin round 17 in 14th place and only three points from a top-ten spot. That victory continued the improvement seen under Marco Giampaolo who has taken seven points from a possible 12 since his appointment last month.[/p]
[p]After two years out of the game, and taking over the side when they were in the relegation zone, the new coach has overseen a draw and a win from two home games to extend Lecce’s unbeaten run at the Stadio Via del mare to four matches (W2, D2). This run is all the more surprising as it followed a 6-0 thrashing by Fiorentina, which left them next to bottom of the table after round eight![/p]
[p]Coincidentally, that’s the same scoreline that Lazio were on the receiving end of on Monday evening when they hosted Inter Milan. That was certainly an unexpected result as they had lost only two of their previous 17 games (W14, D1) across all competitions, had not been beaten at home since mid-March (W14, D3) and began the gameweek only three points off the top[/p]
[p]Their two prior defeats in any tournament were followed by two-goal margin vcitories and head coach Marco Baroni, who took full responsibility for the loss to Inter, will be keen for a similar response on Saturday. The Eagles make the long journey south-east after victories on the road in Naples and Amsterdam already this month, but a third successive away win cannot be guaranteed as they lost 2-1 on each of their last three visits to Lecce.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Santiago Pierotti got an assist against Monza and has contributed to a goal (G1, A1) in both of his home starts this Serie A season. For the visitors, Taty Castellanos has scored three times and received three yellow cards across his last four Serie A away games and is set to return from serving his one-game suspension.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: The last five H2Hs hosted by Lecce saw both teams score and over 2.5 match goals.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Tom Penn[/i][/p]