Monza-Lecce is a Serie A Week 37 match to be played on Sunday at 15:00: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
Monza, after all, are hoping for it. Eighth place, in fact, could exceptionally be worth qualifying for a European competition this year. No one knows what will happen to Juventus in the coming months, if further sanctions will be imposed on the Bianconeri, given the new legal proceedings on the horizon in addition to the one for the alleged fictitious capital gains. And it is not certain that the Serie A standings will suffer any further landslides.
Raffaele Palladino’s team, the great surprise of this tournament, currently leads the ranking of the ‘others’ with 52 points. Right after the seven big names fighting for Europe are the Brianzoli, who, to the delight of managing director Adriano Galliani, are doing well beyond the most optimistic expectations. Once they reached salvation with enormous anticipation – an unusual fact for a newly-promoted team that had never played a Serie A championship – Monza did not stop. And since 8 April, it has racked up eight positive results. Five victories and three draws. In the last two rounds, the Biancorossi have done en plein: firstly, they had the satisfaction of beating Italian champions Napoli 2-0; then they came out on top in the second half (1-2) against Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium thanks to a goal from captain Pessina. Only two teams have scored more points than Monza in the last twenty days. And in the event of a victory against Lecce they would become the team with the most points (55) in their first ever season in Serie A among those who made their debut in the three-point-a-win era. A dream journey, in short. And above all unimaginable at the start of the tournament.
With a win Lecce would be safe
Marco Baroni’s Salentini, who are in a three-way battle with Spezia and Verona, are not yet safe. The Giallorossi are in the best position in the table: they have three points more than the third-last-placed La Scala team and two more than the Ligurians, who unexpectedly crashed in the match against Torino, losing 4-0.
Gonzalez del Lecce
In the case of a victory in Monza, therefore, Lecce would be saved arithmetically, while with a draw everything would be postponed to the last day, as Spezia could join Strefezza and companions at 34 points. Lecce are just back from a 0-0 draw against Leonardi Semplici’s team, a game in which practically nothing happened, with the two direct competitors doing everything they could to avoid losing such a delicate match. The Giallorossi now have two useful results in a row, having stopped Lazio at the Olimpico in the previous round, conceding Milinkovic-Savic’s goal in the dying stages.
Monza-Lecce: latest line-up news
All available for Palladino, except for the disqualified Caldirola. The defensive trio will be made up of Marlon, Pablo Marì and Izzo, while in midfield there is a battle between Sensi and Rovella. Ciurria and Carlos Augusto should play on the flanks. Few changes in attack, where Mota and Caprari from the three-quarter will try to trigger Petagna.
The only absentee in Lecce’s ranks is midfielder Hjulmand: Baroni will rely on Blin in the regiment: Gonzalez and Oudin will play on either side of the Frenchman. Duel Banda-Di Francesco in the attacking trident, but the usual Ceesay and Colombo are also in the running.
The prediction
Who has more motivation is certainly Lecce but it is also true that Monza are in great shape and are not giving anything to anyone. The Salentini are likely to play another careful match from a defensive point of view, trying not to concede goals as they did against Spezia: that’s why we could see a match with less than three goals in total, a sign that has characterised four of the last five matches of the Brianzoli, who only in the last match against Sassuolo have “broken” the streak.
Monza-Lecce line-up probables
- MONZA (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Marlon, Pablo Marì, Izzo; Ciurria, Pessina, Sensi, Carlos Augusto; Caprari, Mota; Petagna.
- LECCE (4-3-3): Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Umtiti, Gallo; Gonzalez, Blin, Oudin; Strefezza, Colombo, Di Francesco.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
