Preview: Lecce vs. Bologna - prediction, team news, lineups

Lecce sit at the bottom of the Serie A table ahead of Sunday's match against Bologna at Stadio Via del Mare in gameweek five.

The hosts are among six clubs still to secure full points in the top division, while Vincenzo Italiano's team have struggled away from home since the end of last season, and the Rossoblu hope to improve their record against the Salentini.

Match preview

The omens do not look promising for Lecce heading into the fifth round of Serie A, with historical trends suggesting they could face relegation if their results do not improve.

This season's performance — Lupi have collected just one point from four matches — leaves them at the bottom of the table, and past poor starts in 1993-94, 1997-98 and 2005-06 led to the Salentini losing their top-flight status.

During those seasons, Lecce suffered five consecutive defeats in 1993-94 and 97-98, while they managed only one draw from five fixtures a decade ago; however, Eusebio Di Francesco is aiming to break this pattern and avoid relegation.

More concerning than the club's troubled start is Lecce's form since the beginning of 2024 — four wins, seven draws and 13 losses — with no other Serie A team suffering as many defeats or conceding more goals than the Salentini's 35.

With only three wins in 32 top-flight matches against Bologna, the home supporters might not be looking forward to Sunday's fixture.

Notwithstanding, Bologna have not been pulling up trees on their travels for a while now, highlighted by a six-game winless streak away from home.

This underwhelming form started at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, but Italiano's team continue to flounder on the road this season, with two away setbacks this term meaning the Emilians have now suffered four straight defeats away from Emilia-Romagna.

Another disappointment in Apulia this weekend would mean they equal an unwanted record of losing five Serie A away matches in a row for the first time since July-October 2020, when the club fell to six straight away losses under the late Sinisa Mihajlovic.

The travelling supporters, though, will hope for a positive outcome for last year's Coppa Italia champions, who seek to extend their nine-match away streak against Lecce — five wins, four draws — to improve on their 11th-place standing after this weekend's round.

Having fallen to 1-0 away defeats in trips to Roma and AC Milan domestically and to Aston Villa in the Europa League, Bologna will welcome facing one of their favourite opponents as they strive to end their drought and secure a positive outcome in Apulia.

Lecce Serie A form:

Lecce form (all competitions):

Bologna Serie A form:

Bologna form (all competitions):

Team News

Lecce will consider the possibility of Riccardo Sottil and Balthazar Pierret playing this weekend, but Gaby Jean and Filip Marchwinski are ruled out due to serious knee injuries.

The low-scoring Salentini have had only two goalscorers this season — Konan N'Dri and Tiago Gabriel Coelho Oliveira — highlighting the absence of last season's 11-goal forward Nikola Krstovic, who has since transferred to Atalanta BC.

Bologna will be without Ciro Immobile (hamstring), Nicolo Casale (thigh), Tommaso Pobega (muscle) and Ibrahim Sulemana for Sunday's trip to Apulia.

Despite failing to score in Thursday’s Europa League defeat to Aston Villa, Riccardo Orsolini, who came off the bench at Villa Park, and Santiago Castro were both key to last weekend’s comeback victory over Genoa and will be vital in Bologna ending their away blues.

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Kouassi, Gaspar, Gabriel, Gallo; Coulibaly, Ramadani, Sala; Pierotti, Stulic, Sottil

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; De Silvestri, Vitik, Heggem, Miranda; Moro, Freuler; Orsolini, Bernardeschi, Dominguez; Castro

We say: Lecce 0-1 Bologna

If Bologna were facing another opponent, we probably would not give them much of a chance ahead of yet another away trip.

However, the Emilians hold a historical advantage over the Salentini, and Italiano’s men are backed to scrape a narrow victory over the Apulia-based club to secure their first away win in Serie A since late March.

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