Lecce coach Fabio Liverani believes ‘a strong mentality’ can be the difference in the relegation battle this season, as his men take on Sassuolo.
It kicks off on Saturday at 18.30 UK time (17.30 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“When there’s a game every three days, thinking of what might’ve been is even more futile than usual,” warned the coach after a damaging 2-1 home defeat to Sampdoria left them in the bottom three.
Lecce coach Fabio Liverani believes ‘a strong mentality’ can be the difference in the relegation battle this season, as his men take on Sassuolo.
It kicks off on Saturday at 18.30 UK time (17.30 GMT), click here for a match preview.
“When there’s a game every three days, thinking of what might’ve been is even more futile than usual,” warned the coach after a damaging 2-1 home defeat to Sampdoria left them in the bottom three.
“We must think positive, as we can get a result against anyone, but also lose to anyone. We’ve got quality and mustn’t relax an inch, so we’ll know that we’ve done everything possible to secure our Serie A safety.
“As long as the safety zone is within three or four points, it’s absolutely within reach. We can do this. There is tension, there is fatigue, so we might not see the spectacular kind of football we want, but that just makes sharpness and a strong mentality all the more important.”
There were some frankly contentious penalty decisions during the 2-1 defeat to Sampdoria and Liverani is not a fan of VAR.
“In my view, it’s perfect only when it comes to offside rulings. For the rest, we quickly need to find some sort of uniformity, otherwise there are going to be differences in interpretation and that causes doubts.”
Sassuolo are on a roll at the moment, scoring three goals in each of their last three games, whereas Lecce have the worst defence in the division.
“We must all tip our hats to Sassuolo for their season. They chose a young coach like Roberto De Zerbi and backed up his ideas with targeted signings. They play good football and have a lot of quality.”