Stalemate specialists Juventus will resume their title challenge in Serie A's Sunday night contest, as they meet Lecce at Stadio Via del Mare.
Juve are one of three remaining unbeaten teams in Europe's top five leagues this season, and another draw in midweek aided hopes of progressing in Europe.
Match preview
Francisco Conceicao of Juventus, November 2024© Imago
Keeping the Turin giants on track for at least a playoff place in the Champions League, Juventus survived a couple of scares to come away from Birmingham with one point on Wednesday evening, holding out for a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.
Their hosts struck the woodwork with a free-kick and had a late goal disallowed by the VAR, while Juve posed little threat aside from Francisco Conceicao forcing Emiliano Martinez into a fine save just after the hour mark.
While the Bianconeri have now won on just three of their last 16 visits to England - and their sole success in eight Champions League road trips came earlier this season, when beating RB Leipzig with only 10 men - they sit just two points shy of a top-eight spot with three games to play.
That result continued a trend, as last week's grim goalless meeting with AC Milan means that another stalemate this weekend would set a new club record for most Serie A draws in a calendar year: they currently have 17 in 2024, matching a mark previously set 68 years ago.
Across all competitions, Thiago Motta's men have taken a single point nine times this term, but they are the only unbeaten side left in Serie A and can also boast the best defensive record - just seven goals conceded and nine clean sheets.
In each of the previous five seasons that Juventus went undefeated through their first 13 league matches, they went on to finish first - most recently, in 2019-20 under Maurizio Sarri.
Amid a wide-open title race - in which six teams are separated by four points - Juve will therefore hope to get their hands back on the Scudetto after a few fallow years, although their attacking output must surely improve.
Patrick Dorgu of US Lecce during US Lecce vs AC Monza on July 20, 2024© Imago
Juventus have won their last two away matches against Lecce without conceding - a Dusan Vlahovic brace helped them to victory at Via del Mare back in January - and Sunday's hosts have lost their last five league meetings with the Bianconeri by an aggregate score of 11-1.
Taking anything from this week's encounter will be a bonus, then, for a side that sits only two points above the Serie A drop zone.
During the last international break, Lecce decided to make a managerial change, as well-travelled coach Marco Giampaolo became just the third man to take charge of 10 different teams in Italy's top flight.
The Salentini saw immediate results in Venice earlier this week, as not only did they finally score a first away goal of the season but they also recorded their first win outside of Salento.
Danish winger Patrick Dorgu struck in the 70th minute to defeat Venezia at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, and that victory means that Giampaolo could now become the only coach in Lecce's history to win both of his first two Serie A matches.
A meagre total of six goals after 13 matches, however, suggests that the Giallorossi may have a hard time breaking down Juve's steadfast back four on Sunday evening.
Lecce Serie A form:
Juventus Serie A form:
Juventus form (all competitions):
Team News
Juventus head coach Thiago Motta on September 21, 2024© Imago
Thiago Motta took a squad of just 17 players to Villa Park - and that featured three goalkeepers - as injuries have bitten Juventus hard over the past few weeks.
Star striker Dusan Vlahovic is hopeful of recovering from a thigh problem, but his deputy Arkadiusz Milik will not return to action until next year, so winger Timothy Weah remains on standby to fill in up front.
South American quartet Juan Cabal, Bremer (both ACL), Nico Gonzalez (thigh) and Douglas Luiz (muscular) are also unavailable, while Weston McKennie and young full-back Nicolo Savona are major doubts.
There is little room for rotation, so Francisco Conceicao, Teun Koopmeiners and Kenan Yildiz could all support the visitors' lone striker. Incidentally, Yildiz and Lecce's Patrick Dorgu are the two youngest players to score three or more goals in Serie A this season.
The latter's fellow wide man Lameck Banda recently suffered an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined until January, and Marco Giampaolo is also missing Medon Berisha, Kevin Bonifazi and Balthazar Pierret.
Without Banda, Santiago Pierotti and Ante Rebic are fighting for one place alongside Dorgu and Nikola Krstovic in the final third: ex-Milan forward Rebic has been directly involved in four Serie A strikes against Juventus to date, averaging one goal involvement every 60 minutes.
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Guilbert, Gaspar, Baschirotto, Gallo; Coulibaly, Ramadani; Dorgu, Rafia, Pierotti; Krstovic
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Danilo, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Weah
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We say: Lecce 0-1 Juventus
Neither side have been able to find the right rhythm in attacking areas this season, so it could be a low-scoring contest in Lecce.
With their customary grit, Juventus can grind out a third straight win at Via del Mare, keeping them in the mix to fight for the title.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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