Preview: Juventus vs Lecce - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to start a new year as they finished the last, resurgent Juventus will seek a fifth straight win when they welcome Lecce to Turin on Saturday evening.

Following three consecutive victories in Serie A - plus another in Europe - Juve hope to mount a Scudetto challenge in 2026, while their visitors are merely fighting for survival.

Match preview

After wrapping up a troubled year by beating Pisa last weekend, Juventus kept themselves within four points of top spot in Serie A - and just one shy of the Champions League places.

So often the Bianconeri's saviour in recent months, Kenan Yildiz netted the second of two goals in the final 20 minutes, marking his team's seventh success out of eight across all competitions.

Having taken 20 games to post their previous seven wins, that represents real progress under new coach Luciano Spalletti, whose initial contract expires at the end of this season.

Conceding only one goal along the way, Spalletti's side have recently overcome direct top-four rivals Roma and Bologna, and they booked a place in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.

History will also be on their side this week, as Juventus have not lost their first league game of any calendar year since 2013, racking up nine wins and seven clean sheets in the process.

Furthermore, Juve have scored in all but one of their 22 home games against Lecce - averaging over two goals per match - and they will expect to extend such dominance on Saturday.

Across those prior meetings in Turin, the Salentini's sole success dates back to April 2004, when they edged an incredible seven-goal thriller.

Given their current plight, Lecce would gladly take a single point from this week's visit, as they once again battle to beat the drop.

After producing their best run of the season - two wins from three - Eusebio Di Francesco's men were well beaten last time out, succumbing to a 3-0 defeat against Como at the Via del Mare.

While they have now failed to score in six of 10 Serie A matches since mid-October - and no other team has scored fewer goals overall - the Giallorossi still have a four-point buffer to the bottom three.

Before making the long trip north, Lecce have also lost four of seven away fixtures - only finding the net five times - so visiting Juve may not be the best way to start 2026.

Juventus Serie A form:

D W L W W W

Juventus form (all competitions):

W L W W W W

Lecce Serie A form:

D L W L W L

Team News

While Juventus hope to welcome Francisco Conceicao back from a brief layoff, Spalletti will be still be missing centre-backs Daniele Rugani and Federico Gatti, plus Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic.

In the absence of Vlahovic, Lois Openda should beat Jonathan David to selection up front, with support provided by chief creator Yildiz.

The latter's tally of 10 goal involvements place him third in Serie A this season, only behind Argentinian pair Nico Paz and Lautaro Martinez.

Meanwhile, Lecce's attack is usually led by Nikola Stulic, who has struck just once since signing in the summer.

Mergim Berisha and Tete Morete are ruled out by injury, but the visitors' defence should feature Angola centre-back Kialonda Gaspar, whose Africa Cup of Nations commitments have now ended.

Lameck Banda could also be involved after Zambia were knocked out, but Mali midfielder Lassana Coulibaly is still in Morocco.

Due to the latter's absence, Mohamed Kaba should join Ylber Ramadani in the engine room. For Lecce, Ramadani ranks first in terms of passes attempted, passes completed and interceptions, but he has produced no Serie A goal involvements this season.

Juventus possible starting lineup:

Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Bremer, Kelly; McKennie, Locatelli, Thuram, Cambiaso; Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Openda

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Veiga, Gaspar, Gabriel, Gallo; Kaba, Ramadani; Pierotti, Helgason, Sottil; Stulic

We say: Juventus 2-0 Lecce

Extending their winning run into 2026, Juve's revival is set to continue with a routine win over Lecce, who rarely travel well.

Even if the hosts fail to find an early breakthrough, they will not panic: Juventus have effectively gained more points than any other Serie A side during the second half - nine so far.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.