Lecce Analytics

Lecce 0–2 Juventus | Three points, and the same problems underneath Juve won in Lecce, but this wasn’t a good away performance. It was a side that has spent the whole season failing to build on its own control, and this time it happened to get away with it. The night itself Lecce were the better side on the ball and without it. They had 1.03 xG to 0.73, 16 shots to 8, and 14 box entries to 10. They pressed Juve properly too: 18 high regains to 7, and 8 shots from transitions against Juve’s 1. Juve put two shots on target all night and both went in. McKennie scored from a set-piece move on 28', a 0.38 chance and the best opening of the match. Douglas Luiz added a 0.04 strike from distance on 40'. Lecce’s 16 attempts averaged 0.064 xG each, with no clear chance among them. And this isn’t new. Eight league games in: 1️⃣ Dominance that doesn’t kill games. Against Milan, Juve had 1.64 xG to 0.12 and drew 1-1. At Cagliari it was 2.26 to 0.59, with a 90% field tilt and 22 shots, and it finished 1-1 again. Four points dropped from games they owned. 2️⃣ Conceding more than they allow. Opponents have created 5.03 xG against Juve and scored 8. Sassuolo got 3 from 1.05, Lazio got 3 from 0.66. When teams do get in, too much of it goes in. 3️⃣ The attack has dried up. In the first six rounds Juve averaged around 1.7 xG and 18 shots a game. In the last two: 0.93 and 0.73 xG, 9 and 8 shots, two on target each time, and one big chance across both. 4️⃣ The press has disappeared. Early on Juve were winning the ball high 20 to 34 times a game. Against Lazio it was 10, at Lecce 7, while their opponents won it back 12 and 18 times. 5️⃣ The build-up is breaking down. Only 19.1% of their build-ups succeeded at Lecce, the lowest of the season. Their exposure when losing the ball is also climbing, at 19.0% against Lazio and 16.2% here. Fourteen points from eight games is a respectable table position. The underlying trend says the control is slipping, and that results like this one are becoming the exception rather than the rule.