Inter travels to the Stadio Via del Mare to take on Lecce away from home on Sunday, February 25, 2024.
Between two mid-week matches, Inter must travel south to take on Roberto D’Aversa and his Lecce side. After finishing 16th in the 2022-2023 season, Lecce finds themselves in a similar position, currently sitting in 14th. 23-year-old Montenegran forward, Nikola Krstović, has been experiencing a break-out season in his first year in Italy. In 25 appearances, the forward has five goals to his name. 23-year-old Zambian international, Lambeck Banda, has been another bright spot for the Salentini. The midfielder has two goals and four assists this season and has become a focal point in D’Aversa’s squad.
Inter is expected to rotate quite heavily for this away match- both by choice due to a midweek clash against Atalanta in the coming days but also due to several injuries and illnesses in the squad. Juan Cuadrado (injury), Stefano Sensi (injury), Marcus Thuram(injury), Francesco Acerbi (injury) and Yann Sommer (illness) are all ruled out for this match. In the reverse fixture at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on December 23, 2023, Inter cruised to an easy 2-0 victory from Lecce. Goals came from Yann Bisseck, who started and put in a man-of-the-match performance, claiming his first Serie A goal, and Nicolò Barella, who finished off a cool move from Inter thanks to a backheel assist from Marko Arnautović.
According to SkySport Italy, Lecce is predicted to line up as follows (4-3-3): Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Touba, Gallo; Kaba, Ramadani, González; Almqvist, Krstović, Oudin. Marin Pongračić and Patrick Dorgu are unavailable for selection, while Kastriot Dermaku and Federico Brancolini have been ruled out through injury.
According to SkySport Italy, Inter is expected to line up as follows (3-5-2): Audero; Bisseck, de Vrij, Carlos Augusto; Dumfries, Frattesi, Asllani, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Alexis Sánchez, Lautaro Martínez. Juan Cuadrado, Stefano Sensi, Marcus Thuram and Francesco Acerbi have all been ruled out through injury. Yann Sommer has been ruled out through illness.
Lecce-Inter is set to kick off at 18:00 CET / 12:00 EST on Sunday, February 25, 2024.
