- 1 Lecce vs AS Roma: history says this is a mismatch
- 2 Lecce: a win in Venice that hides a real lack of cutting edge
- 3 AS Roma: six wins on the spin and a defence that is locked tight
- 4 Serie A Prediction Lecce vs AS Rome
- 5 First, a quick word on our free tips
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information can change
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Lecce vs AS Roma: history says this is a mismatch 
Lecce’s last Serie A win over Roma came back in April 2012. Fourteen years later, nothing much has changed.
Matchday two in Italy puts this one on Monday 31 August at 18:30, at the Stadio Ettore Giardiniero Via del Mare. Both clubs are on three points, but the comparison pretty much stops there.
Roma arrive off a no-nonsense 4-0 win over Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico, with Donyell Malen smashing in a hat-trick, every goal laid on by Paulo Dybala. Gian Piero Gasperini finished third in his first season in charge in Rome, and that earned a Champions League place.
Lecce, meanwhile, went to Venice and came away with a 2-0 win after crashing out of the Coppa Italia to Palermo. Good result on paper, not so great in the flesh: 29% possession, five shots, two on target.
Eusebio Di Francesco has still never seen his side win their first two Serie A games in the same season. Lecce have also managed to win their first home league game only once in their last six top-flight campaigns.
The trip to Puglia comes at an awkward time for Roma, just days before their European campaign gets under way. Gasperini now has a call to make between rotation and keeping the same winning formula.
Tactically, this comes down to whether Lecce can sit deep for 90 minutes without breaking. Roma, for their part, have built their last six wins on near-total control of territory.
Lecce: a win in Venice that hides a real lack of cutting edge 
Lecce averaged 0.7 league goals per game last season. That alone tells you how big the job is for Di Francesco this summer.
The win in Venice did nothing to fix that. Olaf Gorter and Tiago Gabriel converted two of the few chances they created, while Wladimiro Falcone had plenty to do at the other end.
At home, the numbers are even harsher. Over their last 12 Serie A games at home, the Salentini have lost half of them, scoring 0.67 and conceding 1.33 per match.
Zoom out a little and it gets worse still: Lecce have gone 24 home league games without a win in their last 30 at the Via del Mare. That is not a blip anymore. It is the pattern.
Willem Geubbels arrived this summer to help fix the problem and started in Venice, though he is still waiting for his first goal. Antonino Gallo, who went off at half-time after taking a knock to the cheekbone, remains a doubt, which could open the door for Corrie Ndaba.
The one real positive is recent resilience: six unbeaten in their last seven Serie A matches. Against a Roma attack in this sort of form, though, that may not be enough.
Konan N’Dri and Santiago Pierotti will be asked to make the most of the space left behind Roma’s wing-backs. That is about as good as Lecce’s threat gets in this setup.
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AS Roma: six wins on the spin and a defence that is locked tight 
Roma are on a six-match winning run in Serie A, scoring 2.83 per game and conceding just 0.33 on average. Hard to argue with that.
Their last three league games have all ended in clean sheets. Mile Svilar and the back line of Gianluca Mancini, Evan N’Dicka and Mario Hermoso are holding everything together.
Against Fiorentina, Gasperini’s side made their point loud and clear: 17 shots, 61% possession. Rodrigo Mora, making his first start in his new colours, had an immediate impact.
The Dybala-Malen partnership is flying, with the Argentine providing all three assists for the Dutchman’s hat-trick. Santiago Castro, signed this summer from Bologna, gives them another option up front.
Roma have also won the last three meetings with Lecce without conceding. Away from home, they have taken half of their last six trips and are scoring 1.83 goals per game in that run.
A few doubts remain in the squad. Devyne Rensch is carrying a hamstring issue and Robinio Vaz has stepped away from training as a move to Hull City edges closer.
Emanuele Lulli and Nahuel Molina are competing for the right side after the young Italian’s strong display against Fiorentina. The 3-4-2-1 should stay in place, with Dybala and Mora backing up Malen.
Predicted Lecce lineup: Falcone ; Veiga, Gaspar, Gabriel, Ndaba ; Ngom, Coulibaly, Gorter ; Pierotti, Geubbels, N’Dri
Predicted AS Rome lineup: Svilar ; Mancini, N’Dicka, Hermoso ; Lulli, Koné, Cristante, Wesley ; Mora, Dybala, Malen
Serie A Prediction Lecce vs AS Rome
Our prediction: AS Rome to win
Six straight league wins, with just 0.33 goals conceded on average: Roma head into this one on their best defensive run of the Gasperini era. Lecce, stuck at 0.67 goals scored across their last 12 home games, do not look equipped to crack that sort of defence.
The recent head-to-heads point the same way. Roma have won the last three meetings to nil, and they have not lost a league game to Lecce since April 2012.
The only real danger is a Roma side thinking about Europe, but Gasperini named his strongest XI against Fiorentina and has no obvious reason to ease off at this stage. The call is straightforward enough: Roma leave Puglia with all three points.
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