Lecce welcome Fiorentina to the Stadio Via del Mare on Friday in a Serie A clash between two sides who have made poor starts to 2024.
The hosts now find themselves ominously close to the drop zone, while Fiorentina's Champions League hopes have taken a massive blow of late.
Match preview
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Roberto D'Aversa enters this fixture with his job at Lecce under increasing threat after another disappointing result last weekend.
A late comeback from Genoa saw Lecce throw away a lead once again in Serie A to lose 2-1, taking their tally to 14 points dropped from winning positions this season - a league-high.
One point from their last six games has seen the Gialloblu plummet down the table in recent weeks, as they now find themselves 14th, just three points above the drop zone.
That solitary point came at home to Cagliari, another side embroiled in the relegation battle, as their next four Serie A games all come against sides chasing Europe, including a clash with title favourites Inter Milan.
With just one win in 18 games, D'Aversa needs another very soon, but Fiorentina may not be the ideal opponents for that, as they have only defeated La Viola at home once in over two decades.
After going eight games unbeaten to finish 2023, Fiorentina are also finding it difficult at the start of the year though.
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Vincenzo Italiano's side started the year by falling to defeat away at relegation candidates Sassuolo, and they are still yet to win in 90 minutes this year, despite edging past Bologna on penalties in the Coppa Italia.
A late penalty was required to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Udinese, before another out-of-form side thrashed them, when Napoli came out on top 3-0 in their Super Cup semi-final in Saudi Arabia.
That means Fiorentina still have a game in hand, but they lost again on their return to league matters, as Lautaro Martinez's controversial strike separated them and Inter Milan on Sunday night.
Italiano's side could easily have got something from the game though, had Nicolas Gonzalez not missed a penalty with 15 minutes remaining.
That was the second game running where Fiorentina missed from the spot while 1-0 down, as Jonathan Ikone also failed to convert against Napoli in the Super Cup.
That run of worrying form has not ended their hopes of top four by any means, but La Viola have slipped to sixth and sit two points off the Champions League places heading into the weekend.
Team News
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Lecce will be without Albanian duo Kastriot Dermaku and Ylber Ramadani for this clash, with the latter out due to suspension.
D'Aversa has been fortunate that all of his African Cup of Nations representatives have already returned, with Ahmed Touba and Lameck Banda featuring off the bench last week.
Hamza Rafia has also been eliminated with Tunisia but did not return in time to play last week, but should be part of the squad here.
Fiorentina will be able to call upon Cristiano Biraghi after he served a suspension last week, but Ikone's booking against Inter means he will be out with a ban.
Gonzalez's return from injury was gleefully welcomed, and he should start here, but the Argentine missed from the spot off the bench on their way to that defeat on Sunday.
Rumours have suggested Yerry Mina is set to depart the club before the deadline just six months after arriving from Everton, having failed to break into the side on a regular basis.
On the injury front, Dodo (ACL) and Gaetano Castrovilli (Achilles) will miss out, while Christian Kouame remains on duty with Ivory Coast at AFCON.
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Gendrey, Pongracic, Baschirotto, Gallo; Kaba, Berisha, Oudin; Almqvist, Krstovic, Sansone
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Faraoni, Ranieri, Martinez Quarta, Parisi; Arthur, Duncan, Bonaventura; Gonzalez, Beltran, Sottil
We say: Lecce 0-1 Fiorentina
D'Aversa is running out of time to turn Lecce's fortunes around, and another one or two bad results could see them drop into the bottom three, and this fixture looks difficult on paper.
Fiorentina have been far from convincing in all competitions so far during 2024, but facing a side in much worse form should provide them with a good chance of winning, especially given the return of Gonzalez.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
