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

Early surprise package Lecce welcome Sassuolo to the Stadio Via del Mare in Serie A on Friday night.

After a truly remarkable start for the hosts, tougher tests have since arrived and seen them drop down the standings, while Sassuolo continue to be heavily inconsistent.

Match preview

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Despite going down to Juventus and Napoli in the past week, those results do not detract from what has been a fantastic start to the Serie A season for Lecce.

Roberto D'Aversa's side took 11 points from their opening five matches, recording three straight home wins to begin the campaign against Lazio, Salernitana and Genoa.

Those three wins instantly matched the number of victories they picked up at the Via del Mare last season, when their record of three wins from 19 at home was the second-worst in the division.

Even though Lecce have lost their last two outings, they still enter the weekend in the European places after seven matches.

That again is in complete contrast to last season, when the Giallorossi won none of their opening six matches in Serie A.

That poor start continued for much of the season, as Lecce finished down in 16th, cut adrift from the sides both directly above and below them.

A fixture against a Sassuolo side who often hate facing sides against whom they enter the game as favourites may help Lecce get back on track though.

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Sassuolo have gone through another one of their runs which leaves both supporters and neutrals scratching their heads.

So often being the scourge of Italy's biggest clubs, Sassuolo then frequently fail to beat sides below them in terms of resources and league position.

After losing 4-2 at newly-promoted Frosinone, Sassuolo caught fire and inflicted the same scoreline on Juventus a week later.

Domenico Berardi then inspired the Neroverdi to a fifth win at San Siro in the space of two years - two versus Inter Milan and three versus AC Milan - scoring and assisting in a 2-1 win over Simone Inzaghi's side, ending their 100% start to the season.

The win over Inter was not only a shock given the level of opposition, but also because Sassuolo entered that game on a run of one draw and six defeats in their previous seven away games.

However, Alessio Dionisi's men shot themselves in the foot instantly by falling to a 1-0 defeat at home to Monza just days later.

After an underwhelming 13th-placed finish last season, Sassuolo were fortunate to keep hold of Italian international Berardi, who stated his desire to leave.

The wide man therefore missed the opening matches of the season, but his reintegration will see supporters more optimistic of improving on their current position of 11th.

Team News

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Lecce will be able to welcome Mohamed Kaba back to the matchday squad after he missed the defeat against Napoli following a sending off late on at Juventus.

Thigh issues will see both Lameck Banda and Albanian international Kastriot Dermaku sidelined for this one.

In their place, Nikola Krstovic has stepped up instantly since arriving from Dunajska Streda in the summer, scoring six goals already for club and country.

Berardi will be the man which Sassuolo will look to play through most often, and his absence was sorely missed at the start of the season.

Since returning to the side, the attacker has contributed to five goals in five games, and he will flank Andrea Pinamonti, who has also made a fine start with five goals in eight appearances so far.

Uruguayan forward Agustin Alvarez remains Sassuolo's only absentee after a knee injury picked up back in May.

Lecce possible starting lineup:

Falcone; Gendrey, Pongracic, Baschirotto, Gallo; Blin, Ramadani, Rafia; Almqvist, Krstovic, Gabriel Strefezza

Sassuolo possible starting lineup:

Consigli; Toljan, Erlic, Ferrari, Vina; Boloca, Bajrami, Matheus Henrique; Berardi, Pinamonti, Lauriente

We say: Lecce 1-2 Sassuolo

Sassuolo have never lost to Lecce in six previous meetings - winning on three occasions, including completing the double last season with two 1-0 wins.

While it is never quite clear what Sassuolo will show up, Lecce may be reeling from two quick-fire defeats last week and could struggle to maintain their position near the top, making the visitors slight favourites to keep up their fine run in this fixture.

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