Stalemate specialists Juventus will continue their title challenge in Sunday night’s Serie A competition when they meet Lecce at the Stadio Via del Mare.

Juve are one of three remaining unbeaten teams in Europe’s top five leagues this season and another midweek draw boosted their hopes of progressing in Europe.

Game preview

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Juventus kept the Turin giants on their way to at least a Champions League play-off place, surviving some scares and picking up a point from Birmingham on Wednesday night to stay ahead a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa.

Their hosts hit the woodwork with a free kick and a late goal was disallowed by VAR, while Juve otherwise posed little threat Francisco Conceicao force Emiliano Martinez just after an hour a nice parade.

While the Bianconeri have now won on just three of their last 16 visits to England – and their only success in eight Champions League outings came earlier this season when they beat RB Leipzig with just 10 men – They are just two points shy of a place in the top eight with three games left.

This result continued a trend, as last week’s dismal goalless clash with AC Milan means another draw this weekend would set a new club record for most Serie A draws in a calendar year: they currently stand in the Year 2024 at 17 draws, which corresponds to a mark of 68 previously set years ago.

Across all competitions Thiago MottaBarcelona’s men have picked up a single point nine times this season, but are the only unbeaten side in Serie A and also boast the best defensive record – just seven goals conceded and nine clean sheets.

In the last five seasons, in which Juventus remained unbeaten in the first 13 league games, they finished in first place – most recently in the 2019/2020 season Maurizio Sarri.

In the middle of an open title race – in which six teams are separated by four points – Juve will therefore hope to win the Scudetto again after a few fallow years, although their attacking performance certainly needs to improve.

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Juventus have won their last two away games against Lecce without conceding a goal – a Dusan Vlahovic A brace helped them win at Via del Mare in January – and Sunday’s hosts have lost their last five league games against the Bianconeri by an aggregate score of 11-1.

So for a team just two points above the Serie A relegation zone, taking something from this week’s encounter would be a bonus.

During the last international break, Lecce, as a well-traveled coach, decided to make a change in leadership Marco Giampaolo was only the third man to manage ten different teams in Italy’s top flight.

The Salentini saw immediate results in Venice earlier this week as they not only finally scored their first away goal of the season but also recorded their first win away from Salento.

Danish winger Patrick Dorgu He beat Venezia in the 70th minute at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo and this victory means Giampaolo could now be the only coach in Lecce history to win his first two Serie A games.

However, a paltry total of six goals from 13 games suggests the Giallorossi will find it difficult to break Juve’s steadfast back four on Sunday evening.

Lecce Serie A form:

Juventus Serie A form:

Juventus form (all competitions):

Team news

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Thiago Motta took a squad of just 17 players to Villa Park – including three goalkeepers – as Juventus have been hit hard by injuries in recent weeks.

Star striker Dusan Vlahovic is struggling with thigh problems, as is his deputy Arkadiusz Milik will not be used again until next year, said the winger Timothy Weah remains on standby to step in in advance.

South American quartet Juan Cabal, Bremer (both ACL), Nico González (thigh) and Douglas Luiz (muscular) are also not available while Weston McKennie and young full-back Nicolo Savona Have not passed fitness tests.

There is little room for rotation, says Francisco Conceicao, Teun Koopmeiners And Kenan Yildiz Everyone was able to support the guests’ only 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 colleague Lameck Banda recently suffered an ankle injury that will keep him sidelined until January, and Marco Giampaolo is also out Medon Berisha, Kevin Bonifazi And Balthasar Pierret.

Without Banda, Santiago Pierotti And Ante Rebic are fighting for a place next to Dorgu and Nikola Krstovic in the final third: Ex-Milan striker Rebic has been directly involved in four goals in Serie A against Juventus so far, on average he was involved in one goal every 60 minutes.

Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Guilbert, Gaspar, Bashirotto, Gallo; Coulibaly, Ramadani; Dorgu, Rafia, Pierotti; Krstovic

Juventus possible starting lineup:
Perin; Danilo, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Conceicao, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Wow

We say: Lecce 0-1 Juventus

Neither team has managed to find the right rhythm in the attacking areas this season, so it could be a low-scoring clash in Lecce.

With their usual courage, Juventus can achieve their third win in a row in Via del Mare and keep up the fight for the title.

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