We knew once Juventus got through three straight games against clubs that are direct competition for the top four (and then some) in Serie A, the schedule was going to become a lot more favorable and a string of provincial clubs would arrive.
Juventus closed out 2025 with an opponent very much in the relegation zone. They’ll begin 2026 with an opponent who is just outside the relegation zone — which comes after a season in which they finished just one table position from getting sent back to Serie B. As Lecce make their way to the Allianz Stadium for Saturday night’s matchup, it comes at a time where it’s not just the first fixture of 2026 — it’s also the beginning of a month of January that is packed with very winnable games as well as the chance to build some serious momentum before the Champions League comes back into focus in a couple of weeks.
Juventus closed 2025 with three straight wins and have some very positive talk coming from the members of the squad who were hoping Luciano Spalletti’s arrival brought some brighter days.
When it comes to Spalletti himself, he’s trying not to get too far ahead of himself because he knows full well how quickly things can turn again — especially with so many games on the schedule over the next three or four weeks.
“I expect continuity, perhaps adding something on the pitch that can give us even more strength,” Spalletti said during Friday’s pre-match press conference. “My team has what it takes to compete against anyone. We have an intense period ahead of us, with many games in quick succession.”
That continuity basically boils down to Juventus extending their winning run beyond just Lecce. As we know, the fixtures against the provincial sides can be tricky, but they’re also going to be ones where Juve can rack up some points in quick succession the next two weeks. With things so tight at the top of the table between Juventus in fifth and Inter Milan in first before Matchday 18 got underway, there is the chance to both move up as others around them potentially drop points against tougher opposition but also take advantage of potential chaos in front of them.
Over the next four matchdays, Juventus will face clubs who are currently 16th, ninth, 12th and 14th before they travel to the Principality to face Monaco on the penultimate round of the Champions League league phase. Not all of those are simple by any means — looking right at you, ninth-place Sassuolo — but they are all games in which Juventus should come away with three points and continue this winning run that Spalletti has cultivated following the loss to Napoli in southern Italy.
Speaking of that time under Spalletti, here’s a few numbers from the Juventus website following the win over Pisa to close out 2025 that feel applicable right now:
BOUNCE | The Bianconeri are averaging 2.1 points per game under Luciano Spalletti (17 in eight games) compared to 1.7 per game in the nine before his arrival (15 points from those games).
AIRTIGHT | Juventus have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four games across all competitions, as many as in their previous 18 matches. They have also shut out their opponents in their last two away trips.
You know how you keep those kinds of numbers going and make that 2.1 points per game figure look even better in a few weeks? You beat the mid- and lower-table teams that are next up on your schedule. On the season, Lecce’s numbers look a lot like what we said about Pisa last weekend, and that is a game in which Juve were eventually able to win after a not-so-great first-half performance. Considering we know this Juventus team is still trying to find consistency in attack outside of players named Kenan Yildiz, that might end up being the case against the provincial sides that are going to sit back and try and get some sort of result.
Then again, it’s not like Eusebio Di Francesco-managed teams are known for their defensive prowess. Or their tendency to sit back and try to just absorb pressure no matter where he is employed.
Either way, Spalletti knows that his team needs to continue the late-2025 vibes into 2026. They need to keep winning. They need to keep building on what they’ve done since losing to Napoli. Because what’s waiting late in January besides two very important Champions League fixtures? Oh, right. It’s Napoli again.
So you take care of business against the provincial clubs that are stacked up one after another and then you reap the rewards of those victories — which, in this case, would be a nice winning run with the defending champions and they’re well-known manager coming to Turin later this month.
But first, though, you need to take that first step against Lecce this weekend and begin this run of seven games in the month of January on a positive (and winning) note.
- Francisco Conceição returned to full training on New Year’s Day and will be available for selection after missing the final fixture of 2025 due to his minor hamstring injury picked up against Roma the week prior.
- Spalletti said at his pre-match press conference that both Federico Gatti and Daniele Rugani will both still be out of action due to their respective injuries.
- That means the big three injuries will be: Gatti, Rugani and Dusan Vlahovic, who is still at least a couple of months away from returning to action.
- Also a doubt to be called up to face Lecce: Arek Milik, who Spalletti said “has had a minor issue and will be assessed (Saturday) morning.”
- Spalletti did add that Juan Cabal will be back in the squad this weekend after dealing with some minor muscle fatigue over the last couple of weeks.
- Primavera prospect Destiny Elimoghale has been training with the senior squad recently, with Spalletti saying of the 16-year-old Italian winger: “He is somebody with characteristics that suggest he has a big future ahead of him. We need to help him grow in the right way, giving him the opportunity to learn at the right pace.” There is no indication that Elimoghale — who was part of Italy’s Under-17 World Cup squad last month — will be called up, but him training with the first team is a good sign of what Spalletti and the club as a whole think of him despite his very young age.
- The two big lineup decisions it appears Spalletti has to make ahead of facing Lecce is whether to go with Teun Koopmeiners or Lloyd Kelly on the left side of the three-man backline as well as the usual pick between Loïs Openda and Jonathan David in attack.
- Former Juventus captain Danilo is reportedly going to be in attendance for Saturday’s game. Danilo’s season with Flamengo in the Brazilian Serie A won’t get underway until next weekend.
I’m going to go ahead and guess that I wasn’t the only one sitting around and thinking “Juventus have no other creative outlet other than Yildiz” during much of the first half of last weekend’s win over Lecce.
That was because a small yet electric Portuguese winger was back home in Turin watching on TV.
Well, he’s back now. And here’s to hoping that
As noted above, Spalletti said that Francisco Conceição has recovered and will be available to play against Lecce on Saturday. While Spalletti didn’t say so specifically, we can probably assume that he will be in the starting lineup considering the other options that are available to play opposite Yildiz in the other quasi-winger role behind the striker. (Please be able to play some more minutes this month, Edon, because that would be nice.)
And if you remember just how much of a Koopmeiners-centric struggle it was to have creativity from somebody other than Yildiz last weekend, then you can probably imagine that Conceição returning to the lineup is a welcome development.
We saw glimpses of that against Roma — and not just because Conceição ended up being the one who scored the opening goal to give Juve the lead two weeks ago. But Conceição being on the field just means that the opposing defense can’t commit the majority of their attention onto Yildiz as Pisa did with three and sometimes four bodies following the movement of Juventus’ talented No. 10. Combine that with smaller clubs likely to set up with a deepeer backline and you’ve got the need to have individuals break things down rather than rely solely on the movement of multiple players opening up spaces to operate since things are so congested.
Sounds like a job Conceição can do, right?
Yeah, seems like he can. And hopefully that happens this weekend so that things can be a little less stressful against Lecce in front of the hometown crowd in Turin compared to what things were like in Pisa seven days earlier.
When: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026.
Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.
Official kickoff time: 6 p.m. local time in Italy and across Europe, 5 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 12 p.m. Eastern time, 11 a.m. Central time, 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Television: No over-the-air or cable options in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom or Italy.
Online/Streaming: Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network, DAZN USA, Amazon Prime Video (United States); DAZN Canada; fuboTV Canada (Canada); DAZN UK (United Kingdom); DAZN Italia, Sky Go Italia (Italy).
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