Cremonese-Venice is the final first leg of the Serie B playoffs and is played Thursday at 8:30pm: likely lineups, predictions, live TV and streaming.
The thrilling Serie B playoffs have reached the final stage. Competing for the last pass to the top flight will be Cremonese and Venezia, who finished the regular season in fifth and fourth place, respectively. No surprises, then: in the last 180 minutes of the season, the two best teams of this postseason, those who collected the most points in the league (70 the Laggunarians, 67 the Lombardi) will compete.
A minimal gap but one that could make the difference should the doubleheader end in a dead heat. In fact, with the score tied, Venezia would go to Serie A: no extra time or penalty kicks are planned. This is a significant advantage for Paolo Vanoli’s men, who would essentially go with Parma and Como – the two teams promoted directly at the end of the regular season – with two ties. Venezia reached the final by beating Palermo twice, between first leg and return: 0-1 in Sicily and 2-1 in the lagoon. Two victories that erased the bitterness for that defeat against Spezia on the last day of the regular season that prevented the overtaking of Como in extremis. More complicated instead was the task of Giovanni Stroppa’s Cremonese, which in the semifinals had to hold off the “terrible freshman” Catanzaro. After a painful 2-2 draw in Calabria, the grigiorossi went over the top in the return match, sweeping away Vivarini’s men 4-1.
Perfect balance in the two previous matches of the season: Cremonese won 1-0 in the first leg last December, while Venezia got the better of them in the return, winning 2-1 just a month ago.
Cremonese-Venezia: the latest lineup news
Stroppa is expected to confirm en bloc the eleven that overwhelmed Catanzaro last Saturday. The attack will be on the shoulders of Coda, who just got unblocked against the Calabrians, while the direction will be entrusted as usual to Castagnetti. Sernicola, another star player in the challenge with the Giallorossi, is clearly favored over Quagliata.
Typical formation for Vanoli as well: 3-5-2 with the three “giants” in front of Joronen – the trio formed by Idzes, Sverko and Svoboda – and Pierini supporting bomber Pohjanpalo in attack. On the outside lanes Candela and Zampano.
The prediction
Fourth in home performance, Cremonese finished the league with strong defensive numbers. At home, the grigiorossi only conceded 15 goals, but against Venezia they will not be able to play a waiting game: winning in front of their own public will be crucial to count on two out of three results in the return match. We therefore imagine a balanced match in which both should score.
The probable lineups of Cremonese-Venezia
CREMONESE (3-5-1-1): Saro; Antov, Ravanelli, Bianchetti; Zanimacchia, Pickel, Castagnetti, Buonaiuto, Sernicola; Vazquez; Coda.
VENICE (3-5-2): Joronen; Idzes, Svoboda, Sverko; Candela, Busio, Tessmann, Lella, Zampano; Pierini, Pohjanpalo.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1