Preview: Inter Milan vs Lecce - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to extend their lead at the Serie A summit, Inter Milan will welcome lowly Lecce to San Siro on Wednesday evening.

While Inter let two points slip in their Scudetto showdown with Napoli, they can still pull further clear of city rivals AC Milan, who will play Como on Thursday.

Match preview

Though Cristian Chivu was philosophical during the post-match debrief, his Inter team again failed to beat a close rival, as their win drought against the top clubs continued on Sunday evening.

The Nerazzurri twice surrendered a lead in an eventful 2-2 draw against Napoli, with Federico Dimarco's clinical finish and yet another Hakan Calhanoglu penalty only proving good enough for a single point.

After 19 league games without a draw, that stalemate ended Inter's six-game success streak in Serie A, but it also kept them three points clear of Milan, who had earlier failed to beat Fiorentina.

While their defence has shown flaws, Chivu's side certainly boast the league's most potent attack, scoring 12 more goals than both of their closest challengers.

Such firepower has kept them at the head of a tight title race, but an unexpected slip-up could see their lead cut: both Napoli and Milan are also in midweek action, catching up on games moved for the Supercoppa Italiana.

Only those two direct rivals have taken anything away from Inter's last eight league games at San Siro, so Chivu will expect his team to extend an excellent home record against Lecce.

To date, the Nerazzurri have won 18 of 19 top-flight meetings in Milan - and each of the last three by the same 2-0 scoreline.

Home or away, Lecce have failed to even score in five of their last six encounters with Inter, while conceding at least twice on each occasion.

The Salentini also come into this week's clash with just a three-point buffer to the bottom three, having made a slow start to the new year.

Soon after losing 2-0 at home to Roma, they were beaten by relegation rivals Parma last weekend, when red mist descended at Stadio Via del Mare.

Despite taking an early lead through Nikola Stulic, the hosts ended up empty-handed, as Lameck Banda was sent off for a horror tackle and Kialonda Gaspar was given his marching orders in second-half stoppage time.

Without doubt, Lecce cannot afford such ill-discipline at San Siro, having lost five of their last eight matches on the road - though they recently held Juventus to a 1-1 draw in Turin.

Inter Milan Serie A form:

W W W W W D

Inter Milan form (all competitions):

W L W W W D

Lecce Serie A form:

L W L D L L

Team News

Inter are awaiting an update on Calhanoglu - whose spot kick was cancelled out by Scott McTominay's late strike against Napoli - after the set-piece specialist suffered a muscular injury on Sunday.

If ruled out, he would join reserve goalkeeper Josep Martinez and wing-backs Denzel Dumfries and Matteo Darmian on the sidelines.

Chivu is set to rotate his squad ahead of a weekend trip to Udine, so Petar Sucic or Henrikh Mkhitaryan could come into a three-man midfield, with Ange-Yoan Bonny and Francesco Pio Esposito pushing for selection up front.

Unless he makes way for Carlos Augusto on the left wing, Dimarco will try to increase his impressive tally of nine top-flight goal involvements this season.

By contrast, Lecce striker Stulic has struggled to make an impact, but he has netted twice in his last five appearances after a run of 13 Serie A matches without scoring.

That could help him see off the challenge of Milan loanee Francesco Camarda, who will be particularly keen to harm Inter's title hopes on his return to San Siro.

Lecce boss Eusebio Di Francesco will make at least three changes to his starting lineup, as Banda, Gaspar and influential midfielder Ylber Ramadani must all serve suspensions.

Meanwhile, Tete Morente, Gaby Jean and Medon Berisha are again set to miss out through injury.

Inter Milan possible starting lineup:

Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Augusto; Henrique, Barella, Sucic, Zielinski, Dimarco; Bonny, Martinez

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Veiga, Gabriel, Perez, Gallo; Kaba, Coulibaly, Maleh; Pierotti, Stulic, Sottil