Preview: Lecce vs. Genoa
Early high-flyers Lecce welcome newly-promoted Genoa to the Stadio Via del Mare in Serie A on Friday night.
Roberto D’Aversa has led his Lecce side to fourth after four games, occupying one of the Champions League places currently.
Lecce enter the weekend as just one of three sides still unbeaten in Serie A this season, along with Inter Milan and Juventus.
It is just the third time in their top-flight history that Lecce have gone unbeaten in their first four matches.
However, an ominous statistic is that they have never remained unbeaten after five matches, so there is a new record on the line here.
With Juventus and Napoli to come after this encounter, the tests will get extremely tougher too, so D’Aversa has a real task on his hands to keep the side up in the top four.
Nikola Krstovic has played a big role in getting them there so far, scoring three in three games since arriving from Dunajska Streda, as well as one for Montenegro during the international break.
The forward netted another two earlier in the campaign before joining Lecce late in the summer, after scoring 26 in Slovakia last season.
Lecce have won both of their games here at the Via del Mare this season against Lazio and Salernitana, while drawing both away, picking up notable results at Fiorentina and Monza.
The Monza result last week was undoubtedly the most hard-fought, as Federico Baschirotto’s 55th-minute red card gave Lecce an uphill task to hold on.
Despite conceding 25 shots to their four, Lecce heroically held on for a point, and maintained their unbeaten start.
Preview: Lecce vs. Genoa – prediction, team news, lineups
Genoa meanwhile, failed to hang on when they hosted Napoli last weekend, squandering a 2-0 lead late on to only pick up one point.
That draw keeps Alberto Gilardino’s men marooned in 13th on four points in their first season back in the top flight.
It sums up Genoa’s up-and-down start, after being on the end of a thrashing at the hands of Fiorentina, before winning away at Lazio.
A recent defeat at Torino was underwhelming, but Gilardino’s side performed very well against Napoli, despite the late collapse.
With Roma and AC Milan up next in their upcoming home games though, Genoa may need to pick some points up on the road in order to avoid slipping towards trouble should they struggle against those two in-form sides.
A positive stat for the visitors to arrive with is that Lecce have often been favourable opponents considering that Genoa have not lost to them in Serie A in over three decades, winning seven and recording five draws.
Lecce Serie A form:
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Lecce form (all competitions):
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Genoa Serie A form:
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Genoa form (all competitions):
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We say: Lecce 1-1 Genoa
Despite never going five games unbeaten at the start of a Serie A season before, Lecce will fancy their chances of setting that new club record here.
Genoa have also shown some very promising signs, especially in games against Lazio and Napoli, and should make this a close, competitive encounter.