League leaders Lecce travel to Brescia in what promises to be a hotly-contested encounter, given that the Rondinelle are a stubborn team at home. The hosts are currently lying in 11th place, but that is misleading since they have played one less match than most of the other Serie B clubs and are only four points away from fourth placed Torino. Lecce have the strongest offense but the Biancoazzurri are a balanced side. It will be a tough match for the Salentini.

Second placed Ancona will be hoping for a positive result from Brescia since the club will travel to Ascoli in what appears to be a straight forward match on paper. However, the facts show that the Dorici suffer mostly away from home with all four league defeats coming outside of the Stadio del Conero. The poor away form should make this an intriguing game.

The most enticing clash of the weekend comes in Cesena. While they may not have the same star names who participated in the Azzurri friendly against Sweden, the visit of Torino will be a significant one. A defeat for the Turin side will create a gap between the top three and the rest of the league, while a precious victory for il Toro will keep the club in close touch with the leading teams. Torino rely heavily on Bianchi to score goals and he is currently the division leader with 11 strikes so far.

Another encounter to keep an eye on is that of Padova and Empoli, as only a point separates the two sides. The visitors have a game in hand, but are yet to register an away win this season, making the club only the third in the division without an away win. If Empoli were to have played hosts, then in all likelihood a home victory would have been expected.

Sassuolo will be expected to achieve a fairly easy home win over struggling Piacenza while Frosinone travel to play Vicenza in a tricky fixture for the visitors since the home side have drawn all seven home games.

The fixtures for this weekend  are:

Grosseto – Salernitana
Crotone – Reggina
Gallipoli – Mantova
Albinoleffe – Modena
Triestina – Cittadella
Ascoli – Ancona
Brescia – Lecce
Cesena – Torino
Padova – Empoli
Sassuolo – Piacenza
Vicenza – Frosinone

Rami Soufi, Football Italiano