On 17 September 2017, Liverani was appointed manager of Lecce, with whom he achieved two direct promotions from Serie C to Serie A, thus bringing the Salento club back to the Italian top-tier league after seven years. Lecce made it to the last day of the 2019–20 season before being relegated with a 4–3 home loss to Parma. On 19 August 2020, Liverani was sacked.