When Lecce and Pisa kick off the 15th matchday of Serie A at the Stadio Via del Mare on Friday evening, it will be less about beautiful soccer and more about sporting survival. Di Francesco’s team is in 17th place with 13 points, just one point behind Torino and three points ahead of Pisa. Gilardino’s newly promoted team is in 18th place with 10 points, with Verona just one point behind, which is why this duel is of enormous importance for both sides. The recent history between these teams comes from Serie B, with four duels without a single draw and all under 3.5 goals, the last one a 2-0 win for Lecce here in April 2022. Lecce are coming off a lackluster 2-0 win in Cremona, their seventh league defeat, while Pisa wasted 47 crosses and 13 shots in their 1-0 home relegation decider against Parma, performances that were not enough. Both coaches are under pressure to turn their fluctuating league form into points. Di Francesco will have to do without the injured Früchtl, Jean, Pérez, and Pierret, while Gilardino will lose striker Nzola to a three-match suspension, meaning Meister should take the lead.
- Venue: Stadio Via del Mare, Lecce
- Date and time: 12/12/2025, 8:45 p.m.
- Competition: Serie A (Matchday 15)
All things considered, our betting view is that it will be a close evening in Lecce. The bookmakers are offering odds of 2.4 for a home win and 2.9 for a draw, which we believe is still too low for a draw. Pisa will be without Nzola, Stengs, and Cuadrado and appear harmless in attack, while Cremonese have just exposed Lecce’s lack of response.
Lecce Form & Record Check
Lecce goes into this game against Pisa with mixed but fragile Serie A form, with two wins, one draw, and two losses in the last five rounds. The defeat at Cremonese left them in 17th place with 13 points, just one point behind Torino and three ahead of Pisa, with a goal difference of minus nine, meaning their lead over the relegation zone is correspondingly narrow. The recent game in Cremona exposed several current weaknesses. They started bravely in the 2-0 defeat, with Stulic and Berisha creating the first chances, but after Ramadani conceded the penalty that Bonazzoli converted, the team barely reacted. Sanabria’s header, which caught Gaspar off guard at the far post, sums up a team that switches off at crucial defensive moments and struggles to get back into games. In this five-game league stretch, Lecce has failed to score in three games and, according to the data, has not scored in any second half and has not won any second half. This fits with the impression of a team that starts energetically, then loses a few yards and intensity, with most of their games being close, with a strong tendency toward few goals and under 2.5 goals. At the Via del Mare, the picture is slightly less bleak, with a 2-1 win over Torino and a 0-0 draw with Verona showing a team that can still defend its own turf, even if its creativity is inconsistent. It could be that absences such as Früchtl, Jean, Pérez, and Pierret are limiting rotation, forcing Di Francesco to rely more heavily on Banda, Pierotti, Stulic, and Ramadani than he would like. The context makes Friday’s game seem like an early decider in the battle for survival. Pisa are three points behind and showing a similar negative trend in results. They will be without Nzola, who is suspended and will soon be away at the Africa Cup of Nations. This reduces the immediate threat in attack, but given Pisa’s recent flood of crosses, Lecce’s defense will still have to withstand sustained pressure.
For the Serie A clash with Pisa, Lecce are expected to stick with their now familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, with Falcone in goal as Früchtl remains sidelined. The predicted back four is Veiga, Gaspar, Gabriel, and Gallo, partly because Jean and Pérez are still out with injuries. Ramadani and Coulibaly should once again form the double pivot in front of the defense, but this is only a predicted starting lineup. Pierret is also unavailable. In attack, the prediction is the same as for the game against Cremonese, with Stulic as center forward, supported by Pierotti, Berisha, and Banda, a trio that provides width and links the lines. Di Francesco may make slight changes to one of the wide roles, but the basic structure should remain similar. With no Lecce players suspended in Serie A, Maleh, Marchwinski, or Sottil are considered the most important alternatives.
Pisa Form & Record Check
Pisa travels to Lecce with a league record that signals struggle rather than crisis, but the table is relentless. They are in 18th place in Serie A with 10 points and a goal difference of minus 9, three points behind Lecce and only one point ahead of Verona, with every small dip in performance now weighing heavily in this tightly packed relegation group. Their recent run tells the story clearly. At home, they have just suffered two consecutive defeats, 0-2 against Inter and 0-1 in the direct relegation battle against Parma, where a first-half goal from Benedyczak punished Caracciolo’s handball. That came after a narrow 1-0 win over Cremonese, followed by a 2-2 away draw at Torino and a 2-2 draw at home to Sassuolo, evidence of a fluctuating team. Patterns are also evident in the statistics. In their last five league games, Pisa have not led at half-time once and have gone into the break level four times, suggesting cautious starts or a lack of early form. They have also conceded goals in four of those games, meaning even minor defensive lapses are mercilessly exposed. Tactically and psychologically, Gilardino still seems to be searching for the right mix. The switch to a very offensive 4-2-4 against Parma created chances but also chaos, and the red card that earned Nzola a three-match ban sums up this frustration well. With Cuadrado, Stengs, and Denoon, there is a lack of options between the lines. Expectations for Pisa have naturally been shaped by the other promoted teams, with Sassuolo and Cremonese converting their momentum into points, while Pisa, as Italian reports emphasize, is still searching for a clear tactical identity. Survival in the league may depend on whether it can turn its frequent draws and narrow defeats into something more controlled and less emotional.
Pisa, still searching for a stable tactical balance in Serie A, are likely to stick with a 3-5-2 formation, with Scuffet in goal behind a back three of Calabresi, Caracciolo, and Canestrelli. Marin should once again be the central playmaker in midfield, flanked by Aebischer and Touré, while Piccinini and Angori provide width. Meister and Moreo are expected to lead the attack up front. Denoon is likely to be out with an ankle problem, Cuadrado and Stengs remain unavailable, and Nzola is suspended for three Serie A games after receiving a red card against Parma. This limits Pisa’s options on the right side and in attacking depth, which is why players such as Léris or Tramoni could be the most important alternatives from the bench.
Lecce – Pisa Head-to-Head & Statistics
The last four meetings between Lecce and Pisa, played between 2020 and 2022 in Serie B, have been completely even. Both sides have won two games each without a single draw, and in each game the winner kept a clean sheet. Pisa has a slight advantage in the overall goal statistics with four goals scored compared to Lecce’s three, but there is no clear dominance. Chronologically, Pisa struck first with a 3-0 away win in Lecce in 2020, to which Lecce responded with a 1-0 win in Pisa in 2021. That season, Pisa won the return leg 1-0, before Lecce struck back with a 2-0 home win in 2022. Interestingly, the most recent sequence reads more like a close exchange than a sustained series in favor of one team. The clearest pattern is evident in the goal-scoring behavior. All four games ended with under 3.5 goals, and there has been a series of four games with very quiet second halves, always with under 1.5 goals after the break. There have been no draws in regular time or in the second half, so the first decisive goal seems to carry particular weight in these encounters.
