Coppa Italia
Palermo and Lecce face off in the 2026/2027 Coppa Italia First Round on August 17, 2026 at 22:15 (UTC) at Stadio Renzo Barbera. Hosts Palermo, managed by Filippo Inzaghi, and Lecce under Eusebio Di Francesco's leadership will take the field aiming to advance in the cup and secure a spot in the next round.
Form Status
Both teams played their last Coppa Italia match of the previous season on the same day, September 23, 2025; Lecce won 3-0 at home while Palermo triumphed 2-1 at home. However, looking at the overall picture, Palermo's recent cup form stands out: they have lost 4 of their last 5 Coppa Italia matches and failed to win in 4 matches over the same period. In that same span, Palermo conceded the opening goal in 4 matches. These statistics point to the hosts struggling with their cup form.
Head-to-Head History
Palermo hold a clear advantage in recent meetings between the two teams: according to head-to-head statistics, Palermo have won 2 victories over Lecce (100% win rate), while Lecce have failed to win in these matchups. Palermo have secured 1 win at home against their opponents, scoring 2 goals per game while conceding just 1. Looking back at previous encounters, scores have generally been balanced over the last 8 official matches; at their last meeting in 2019, Palermo won 2-1 at home. In terms of goal-scoring times, Palermo typically appear in the early stages (0-15, 15-30) and mid-second half (45-60, 75-90), while Lecce are more effective in the 30-45 and 75-90 periods.
Injuries and Squad
On the Palermo side, there is one player sidelined due to an undisclosed injury; this situation may affect Inzaghi's starting XI choices. Lecce have no reported absences.
Data-Driven Forecast
According to individual performance statistics, Mohamed Kaba stands out as Lecce's most dangerous player with an average xGOT of 0.75 over the last 10 Coppa Italia matches; Gaspar is the player with the highest goal expectation at 0.39 xG average. On the Palermo side, Patryk Peda catches the eye with an average xGOT of 0.87 over the same period. In corner statistics, Lecce's average of 11 corners away indicates the visiting team's tendency to maintain attacking pressure. Both teams have seen under 3.5 goals in most of their recent matches; 5 of Lecce's last 6 matches and 4 of Palermo's last 5 matches have not exceeded this threshold. The frequency of both teams scoring has remained low; only 2 of the recent matches have seen both sides find the net. Overall, a low-scoring, controlled contest is expected.