Sassuolo vs Lecce – News and Probable Lineups

Lecce heads to Sassuolo for the penultimate matchday of this Serie A season, aware that a poor performance could see them drop into the relegation zone.

Initially, their visit to Mapei Stadium was in doubt due to the league’s scheduling issues, but a final decision confirmed that all ten matches would occur on the same day.

Match overview

Lecce recently benefited from a favorable run that included matches against bottom-placed Pisa, second-last Hellas Verona, and 15th-placed Fiorentina, gathering five points from a possible nine.

They only managed one victory during that stretch, which came against last-placed Pisa, but their happiness was short-lived following a 1-0 defeat to Juventus in their most recent outing.

This setback halted Eusebio Di Françasco’s attempt to achieve back-to-back wins for the first time since their victories in February over Udinese (2-1) and Cagliari (2-0). More crucially, it was aided by Cremonese’s result: a 3-0 win over nine-man Pisa.

With La Cremo’s victory last week and Lecce’s first league loss in four games, Lupi now finds themselves just one point above 18th-placed Cremonese as Sunday night’s matches approach.

A defeat for Lecce combined with a victory for Cremonese against a resurgent Udinese would result in Di Françasco’s team falling into the relegation zone ahead of the final matchday.

Given that Lecce has a disadvantage in head-to-head matches against Cremonese, they enter this round aware that securing another victory may be critical to safeguarding their top-flight status.

Meanwhile, Sassuolo are favorites to achieve a fourth consecutive home win, although the mid-table hosts will aim to avoid a repeat of two seasons ago when they suffered a 3-0 defeat in this fixture.

That season concluded with the Neroverdi relegated, but their return to the division this season has seen them comfortably situated in 11th place.

Last year’s Serie B champions have held strong against top teams in the league, even overpowering AC Milan with a 2-0 victory in early May, bringing their points tally to 49.

That win against Massimiliano Allegri’s side put Fabio Grosso’s men on the cusp of surpassing the 50-point mark, but they then fell 2-1 to Torino in their last match.

Facing the fourth-lowest ranked team this weekend offers the Neroverdi a chance to exceed their total points from the disappointing 2023-24 season (30 points), the previous year’s total (45), and aim for a tally better than 50 points from 2021-22, as they strive for a first top-half finish since 2019-20 and 2020-21, where they finished eighth both times.

Team News

Jay Idzes, Daniel Boloca, Edoardo Pieragnolo, and Fali Cande are expected to be unavailable due to injury, while Stefano Turati may also miss out because of illness.

Domenico Berardi, Andrea Pinamonti, and Armand Lauriente have recorded 12, 11, and 15 goal contributions, respectively, making them the primary attacking threats for the Neroverdi.

Even though Pinamonti hasn’t found the net or provided an assist in his last five league matches—after scoring in three of the previous five—the hosts can still rely on veteran Berardi (one goal, one assist) and Lauriente (one goal, two assists), who have contributed in various ways beyond just goals.

Lecce didn’t report any injuries sustained against Juve in their recent match, but Di Françasco’s squad will assess the status of Riccardo Sottil, Sadik Fofana, Medon Berisha, and Kialonda Gaspar prior to kick-off.

With Berisha’s two goals and three assists likely unavailable, Lameck Banda (four goals, three assists) and Lassana Coulibaly (three goals, one assist) emerge as the away side’s chief attacking options.

However, with Banda scoring only once in his recent outings, and Coulibaly not having scored or assisted anyone since late February, the attacking concerns for the visitors are evident.

Sassuolo probable starting XI:

Muric; Coulibaly, Walukiewicz, Muharemovic, Garcia; Kone, Matic, Thorstvedt; Berardi, Pinamonti, Lauriente

Lecce probable starting XI:

Falcone; Ndaba, Siebert, Gabriel, Gallo; Ramadani, Ngom; Pierotti, Coulibaly, Banda; Cheddar

Having secured three consecutive home wins and five from their last six matches in Reggio Emilia, Sassuolo is favored to continue this trend by achieving a fourth successive victory, despite Lecce’s urgency for a favorable outcome against the Neroverdi.