Inter vs. Lecce: a complete guide to the Matchday 16 rescheduled fixture

After the draw against Napoli, Inter return straight to San Siro and their home crowd. Cristian Chivu’s side now face Lecce in the rescheduled Matchday 16 fixture of Serie A. The match will be played at the Meazza on Wednesday, January 14 at 20:45 CET, and will officially bring Inter’s first half of the league season to a close.

RESCHEDULED MATCHDAY 16

The first half of the Serie A 2025/26 season has come to an end for 12 of the 20 teams. Between January 10 and 12, the league officially entered its second half with the matches of Matchday 20, the opening round of the return leg. Inter have already begun the second part of their campaign as well, with the San Siro clash against Napoli, who they had previously faced in November at the Maradona Stadium. However, eight teams have yet to complete the first half of the Serie A season: Inter, AC Milan, Napoli, Como, Bologna, Parma, Lecce, and Hellas Verona.

These eight teams have played one match fewer because, between December 18 and 22, 2025, Inter, Milan, Napoli, and Bologna were involved in the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh. As a result, Matchday 16 was played without the four fixtures featuring the Supercoppa participants. However, all four postponed matches are scheduled for Wednesday, January 14, and Thursday, January 15. This will finally bring the first half of the Serie A season to a close for all teams and remove all the asterisks from the league table.

The final standings for the first half of the season take into account only the first 19 matchdays, and therefore do not include the results from the recently played Matchday 20. As a result, Inter have the chance to finish the first half of the league top of the table with either a win or a draw against Lecce at San Siro, regardless of the results elsewhere.

SERIE A, MATCHDAY 16

Saturday, December 20: Lazio 0-0 Cremonese Juventus 2-1 Roma

Sunday, December 21: Cagliari 2-2 Pisa Sassuolo 0-1 Torino Fiorentina 5-1 Udinese Genoa 0-1 Atalanta

Wednesday, January 1, 2026: Napoli vs. Parma, 18:30 CET INTER vs. Lecce, 20:45 CET

Thursday, January 15, 2026: Hellas Verona vs. Bologna, 18:30 CET Como vs. AC Milan, 20:45 CET

PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Since their first league meeting in 1985 until today, Inter and Lecce have faced each other 38 times in Serie A. The Nerazzurri have largely been victorious, with 30 Inter wins, compared to four Lecce wins, and four draws. There is also a big disparity in the number of goals scored. Inter have scored 91 against the Giallorossi, conceding just 19.

Overall, the Nerazzurri have not lost to Lecce since the match at the Via del Mare on January 29, 2012, and at San Siro they are coming off 11 consecutive wins. What’s more, Inter have kept a clean sheet against the Salentini at San Siro since December 21, 2011, when the match ended in a 4-1 win for the Nerazzurri (goals from Muriel, Pazzini, Milito, Cambiasso, and R. Álvarez).

INTER STATS

It’s a clash between the best and worst attacks in Serie A: Inter lead the league with 42 goals, while Lecce have managed just 13. The two teams are also at opposite ends when it comes to shots attempted in the league: the Nerazzurri top the chart with 335, while the Salentini rank second-to-last with 187 (Cremonese are 20th with 171).

The differences are also clear when it comes to goals from set-pieces: Chivu’s side has scored 12 goals from dead-ball situations (three penalties and nine from corners), the highest in the league, while Lecce have the lowest total with five, tied with Lazio and Torino. Inter are also among the league’s best when it comes to headed goals, with six (alongside Juventus and Cremonese; only Napoli have more with seven). Lecce, meanwhile, have conceded seven goals from headers, with only Hellas Verona worse off at eight.

Overall, Inter and Lecce are the two teams that have conceded the fewest goals in the first 15 minutes of matches, just one, the same as Atalanta. However, Chivu’s side have scored the most in the opening quarter of games, with eight goals.

DIMARCO STRIKES AGAIN

Federico Dimarco scored his fourth goal of this Serie A season against Napoli. Combined with his five assists, the full-back is tied with Leverkusen’s Grimaldo as the defender involved in the most goals across Europe’s top five leagues.

Since his return to Inter in the summer of 2021, Dimarco is the highest-scoring defender in the league with 19 goals, one more than Denzel Dumfries and Theo Hernandez.

LECCE AND FIRSTS

Lecce will bring back some happy memories for two other Inter defenders, Alessandro Bastoni and Yann-Aurel Bisseck.

Bastoni scored his first goal for Inter against the Salentini at the Via del Mare during the 2019/20 season in a match that ended 1-1 on January 19, 2020. The same goes for the German defender: Bisseck opened his Inter account against Lecce at San Siro in the 2023/24 season, with a header that broke the deadlock in the 2-0 win on December 23, 2023.

THE OPPONENT: LECCE

Lecce head to San Siro in 17th place in the table, just above the relegation zone and three points clear of third-bottom Fiorentina. The Salentini have picked up 17 points so far, with four wins and five draws, while suffering ten defeats. They also have the least-prolific attack in Serie A with just 13 goals scored (Inter have the best with 42), and the second-worst defence, having conceded 31 goals (Verona, Udinese, and Torino have allowed 32).

The Giallorossi are going through a tough patch. Over the last four matchdays, Lecce have picked up just one point, earned in a 1-1 draw away to Juventus in Turin, their first match of 2026. At the Via del Mare, they have suffered three straight defeats: 0-3 against Como, 0-2 versus Roma, and 1-2 against Parma in the most recent round. Lecce have not won since December 12, when they beat Pisa 1-0 thanks to a goal from Stulic. The match against Parma also has knock-on effects for the trip to San Siro: Banda and Gaspar were sent off, while Ramadani picked up a booking while already on a caution, meaning all three will be suspended for the game against Inter.

Eusebio Di Francesco favors a back four, with Lecce lining up this season in either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, always featuring two attacking wingers. Lecce’s 13 league goals have been shared among eight different players. Their top scorers, with two goals each, are N’Dri, Banda, Stulic, Coulibaly, and Berisha.

DISCIPLINARY SITUATION

SUSPENDED Inter: - Lecce: Banda, Gaspar, Ramadani CAUTIONED Inter: Calhanoglu Lecce: -

REFEREE

The referee for Inter vs. Lecce will be Fabio Maresca, from the Naples section. Referee: Maresca Assistants: Passeri, Di Gioia Fourth official: Manganiello VAR: Maggioni AVAR: Chiffi

WHERE TO WATCH

Inter vs Lecce, the rescheduled fixture from Matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Serie A season, will be played on Wednesday, January 14 at 20:45 CET and will be shown live exclusively on DAZN. The match will be available via the DAZN app on smart TVs, as well as streamed on PCs, smartphones, and tablets.

UPDATES ON INTER TV

On Inter TV, as always, there will be pre-match updates and live coverage from San Siro ahead of the game. Our Inter vs. Lecce Livematch will go live from 19:30 CET and will also be available on YouTube via the Club’s official channel until 20:35 CET. After the match, fans can catch all the in-depth analysis, highlights, and interviews.