Lecce Vs. Juventus: At Stadio Via Del Mare, La Vecchia Total Wants To End Vulnerable Results

Khéphren Thuram, wants to end Juventus' series of draws (photo: x @juventusfc)

JAKARTA - Juventus, specialists in the draw, will continue their struggle to win the title in Serie A in Sunday night December 1, when they meet Lecce at the Stadio Via del Mare.

Juve are one of three teams still unbeaten in Europe's top five leagues this season, and another draw midweek helped their hopes of stepping into the next round in Europe.

Juventus managed to maintain their position to at least get a place in the Champions League playoffs, having held up with a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa on Wednesday night. The home team hit the post with a free-kick and scored a goal ruled by VAR, while Juve barely provided any threats other than Francisco Conceicao which forced Emiliano Martinez to make a brilliant save in the 60th minute.

Although Juventus have only won three times in their last 16 visits to England, their only win on eight Champions League away trips comes this season when they beat RB Leipzig despite playing with 10 people, they are now only two points behind the top eight with three games remaining.

The draw continued the same trend, where last week's 0-0 draw with AC Milan means that another draw this weekend will set a new club record for the most draw in Serie A in a calendar year: they have now collected 17 draws in 2024, matching the record recorded 68 years ago.

In all competitions, Thiago Motta's side have picked up one point nine this season, but they are the only unbeaten team in Serie A and also have the best defensive record, with only seven goals conceded and nine clean sheets.

In the previous five seasons when Juventus were unbeaten in their first 13 league games, they always managed to finish in first place which last happened in 2019-20 under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri.

In the midst of wide open title competition, where six teams are only four points apart, Juve hopes to regain the Scudetto after several years of failure, although their attack output needs to be improved.

Lecce, who is two points above the relegation zone, has just replaced the coach in the final international break. Marco Giampaolo is now the third coach to handle 10 different teams in Serie A.

Lecce won their first away win of the season last Tuesday, with Patrick Dorgu scoring in the 70th minute in a 1-0 win over Venezia. The win means Giampaolo can be the first coach in Lecce's history to win in his first two Serie A matches.

However, by scoring just six goals in 13 games, Lecce is likely to find it difficult to penetrate Juventus' strong defense in Sunday night's match.

Juventus coach Thiago Motta has brought a squad of only 17 players to Villa Park, which includes three goalkeepers, due to injuries that have hit Juventus in recent weeks.

Dusan Vlahovic star forward hopes to recover from a thigh injury, but his successor, Arkadiusz Milik, will only be able to return to play next year, so winger Timothy Weah is likely to fill the center forward position.

Four South American players Juan Cabal, Bremer (both ACL injuries), Nico Gonzalez (paha), and Douglas Luiz (dots) are also confirmed to be absent, while Weston McKennie and young defender Nicolo Savona are doubtful.

With at least space for rotation, Francisco Conceicao, Teun Koopmeiners, and Kenan Yildiz could support the single striker Juve. Yildiz and Patrick Dorgu of Lecce are the two youngest players to have scored three goals or more in Serie A this season.

Without an ankle injury to Banda Lameck, Santiago Pierotti and Ante Rebic will compete for a place up front with Dorgu and Nikola Krstovic. Rebic, a former Milan player, is directly involved in Serie A's four goals against Juventus, with an average of one goal involvement every 60 minutes.

Player Composition Forecast

Lecce: Falcone; Gilbert, Gaspar, Baschirotto, Badminton; Coulibaly, Ramadani; Dorgu, Rafia, Pierotti; Krstovic

Juventus: Di Gregorio; Danilo, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Weah