Juventus welcome Lecce to the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday, January 3, 2026, for Matchday 18 of the 2025\/26 Serie A season. Kick-off is at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET). The Bianconeri aim to extend their impressive recent form into the new year, while Lecce face a tough challenge in their battle against relegation.<\/p>\n
Juventus<\/strong> (5th place, ~32 points after 17 matches) have found their stride under Luciano Spalletti, winning four consecutive matches across all competitions heading into 2026. Their defense has been particularly solid, conceding just a few goals in recent outings and keeping multiple clean sheets. The team is just one point off fourth place and pushing for a Champions League spot.<\/p>\n Lecce<\/strong> (16th place, 16 points after 16-17 matches) are hovering just above the relegation zone with a four-point buffer. Their form has been inconsistent, with recent results including wins over lower-table sides but heavy defeats like a 3-0 loss to Como. Lecce boast the league\u2019s weakest attack, scoring only 11 goals so far, and have struggled on the road.<\/p>\n Juventus<\/strong>: Several key players are sidelined, including striker Dusan Vlahovic (adductor injury), defenders Federico Gatti, Daniele Rugani, and Juan Cabal, plus others like Carlo Pinsoglio. Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o may return, providing a boost in attack.<\/p>\n Lecce<\/strong>: Multiple absences due to injuries (e.g., Tete Morente, Medon Berisha, Filip Marchwinski) and doubts over players recovering from illness or other issues.<\/p>\n Juventus (3-4-2-1)<\/strong>: Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Bremer, Kelly; McKennie, Locatelli, Thuram, Cambiaso; Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Openda<\/p>\n Key players to watch: Kenan Yildiz (in sparkling form) and Lo\u00efs Openda up top.<\/p>\n Lecce (4-2-3-1 or similar)<\/strong>: Falcone; Veiga (or alternative), Gaspar, Gabriel, Gallo; Kaba, Ramadani; Pierotti, Helgason\/Sottil, Sottil\/Pierotti; Stulic<\/p>\n Lecce will likely focus on defensive solidity and counter-attacks.<\/p>\n Juventus are heavy favorites at home against a struggling Lecce side with blunt attack. Expect a controlled performance from the hosts, leading to a comfortable victory and likely clean sheet.<\/p>\n Predicted Score: Juventus 2-0 Lecce<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Juventus welcome Lecce to the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday, January 3, 2026, for Matchday 18 of the 2025\/26\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":37622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[180,4470],"class_list":["post-16829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-juventus","tag-lecce"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Team News and Injuries<\/h2>\n
Potential Lineups<\/h2>\n
Score Prediction<\/h2>\n