Cagliari and Lecce lock horns at Unipol Domus in a crucial relegation six-pointer in Serie A on Sunday afternoon.
Lecce climbed out of the bottom three at the expense of Cagliari last weekend, during a matchday full of results that went in their favour.
Match preview
© Imago
While Cagliari earned an excellent point away to AC Milan last weekend, that was not enough to stop them dropping into the relegation zone, with just one win in six games contributing to their demise.
Form at home has especially been underwhelming, and after losing back-to-back games here without scoring, they could make it three matches in a row for the first time in over 12 years.
Sitting 18th, one point behind a cluster of teams just outside the bottom three, Davide Nicola could do with his team arresting that run at home sooner rather than later.
Venezia and Monza are both slightly cut adrift, but six clubs could end the weekend in 18th, illustrating just how tight the relegation battle is in Serie A at present.
While recent form gives little for the home crowd to get excited about, their history against Lecce may do instead.
The Sardinian club have only ever lost one home game against Lecce in Serie A, and that was back in 2012, but the visitors do have the upper hand in more recent head-to-heads.
Lecce are unbeaten in six games against Cagliari, and if they extend that streak, they will equal a club record for the longest unbeaten run against a single opponent in their Serie A history - after also going seven games without defeat against Siena in the mid-2000s.
© Imago
Further history is on the line, because a 1-0 win in the reverse fixture back in August gives Lecce the chance to do the league double over Cagliari for the first time in Serie A.
Marco Giampaolo's men will come into the game with confidence too, after an impressive 3-1 win at Empoli last weekend, the same opponents that held them to a draw on home soil and ultimately led to the sacking of Luca Gotti.
Giampaolo has now taken charge of eight games since his appointment, and that has yielded 11 valuable points for the Salentini, who have escaped the bottom three for now, moving all the way up to 13th last weekend with their win.
Winning by such a margin last time out was also a big surprise given their woes in front of goal this season, and Lecce remain the league's lowest scorers with just 14 scored in 20 matches so far, blanking in half of their Serie A games.
Sitting only two points above the drop zone still, this would be the perfect time for Lecce to record back-to-back wins for the first time since April, and extend that gap even further.
Team News
© Imago
Injuries are mounting in defence for Cagliari, with Yerry Mina missing out last weekend, and Jose Luis Palomino being forced off in the late stages of their draw at Milan.
Those two are set to join Zito Luvumbo, who has an ankle issue, and Jakub Jankto on the sidelines, with the Czech midfielder suffering from illness at present.
Lecce's injury list is even longer in comparison, with Hamza Rafia joining it after missing out entirely last weekend.
Medon Berisha has been absent for the last three matches, joining longer-term casualties Kialonda Gaspar (knee), Lameck Banda (ankle) and Joan Gonzalez (illness) in the treatment room.
While Lecce have struggled for goals, Montenegrin striker Nikola Krstovic still has a decent return, scoring 43% of their total in Serie A this season, and he has also found the net in his last two meetings with Cagliari.
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Zappa, Wieteska, Luperto, Obert; Zortea, Adopo, Makoumbou, Felici; Viola, Piccoli
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Guilbert, Baschirotto, Jean, Dorgu; Helgason, Coulibaly, Pierret; Pierotti, Krstovic, Tete Morente
We say: Cagliari 0-0 Lecce
Cagliari have had some tough fixtures to navigate in recent weeks, welcoming Atalanta and Inter Milan to Sardinia, and going to San Siro last weekend, but the league table does not lie, and they are in the bottom three for a reason.
Leece have lost just three of Giampaolo's first eight games in charge, and while their attack may still be rather blunt, they have found a knack of getting results recently.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
