Something has to give, as both Empoli and Lecce are on a run of dire form of four consecutive defeats and are separated by just one point, but the game is delayed after a fire in the locker rooms.
It was scheduled to kick off at the Stadio Castellani at 17.30 UK time (16.30 GMT).
The hosts have scraped just three stalemates from the last eight rounds and are still missing star goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, but combine veteran Ciccio Caputo with young talents Tommaso Baldanzi and Roberto Piccoli upfront.
Lecce have both Samuel Umtiti and Youssef Maleh suspended, along with long-term absentee Kastriot Dermaku.
They sit one point behind Empoli in the Serie A table and both are hovering just above the relegation zone, albeit with a relatively comfortable buffer.
Empoli: Perisan; Ebuehi, Ismajli, Luperto, Parisi; Akpa Akpro, Marin, Bandinelli; Baldanzi; Caputo, Piccoli
Lecce: Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Tuia, Pezzella; Blin, Hjulmand, Gonzalez; Strefezza, Colombo, Banda
Player statistic
| Filippo Bandinelli |  |
19' | ||
| 22' | |
Alexis Blin |
| Francesco Caputo |  |
62' | ||
| 68' | |
Alessandro Tuia | ||
| Jacopo Fazzini | |
71' | ||
| Răzvan Marin | |
90+6' | ||
| Lorenzo Tonelli |  |
90' |
Match statistic
