Verona-Cremonese is a Serie A Week 17 match played on Monday at 18:30: odds, predictions, TV and streaming
The first of the two Monday Serie A postponed matches has all the air of being an in or out clash between the two teams that have so far collected the least points of all: we are talking about Verona and Cremonese, respectively last and second last in the standings.
The points at stake in the match at the ‘Bentegodi’ are therefore extremely high: whoever wins can see the light again, whoever loses will fall even further into the abyss. Both can take advantage of Sampdoria’s defeat, yesterday beaten by Napoli, and the white-net draw between Spezia and Lecce. The Ligurians did not extend their lead in the direct clash with the Salentini: the fourth-last place remains eight points away for the Grigiorossi and nine for the Scaligeri. During the break for the World Cup, Verona teamed up with debutant Marco Zaffaroni in place of Salvatore Bocchetti, who had been left without a licence, and in their first outing of 2023 they broke a ten-day losing streak by drawing 1-1 at home to Torino. The Gialloblù’s last (and only) win came in September – 2-1 against Sampdoria – and since then Verona have failed to score more than one goal per game.
Cremonese still winless
Zaffaroni and Bocchetti also have to cope with poor defensive numbers: with thirty goals conceded, the Scaligera defence is the most beaten in the tournament (joined yesterday by Samp).
Lochoshvili
Cremonese, on the other hand, have yet to celebrate their first success since regaining the top flight. The courage of Massimiliano Alvini’s men, who have always tried to take the initiative even against the big teams – last Wednesday they came close to snatching a point from Juventus, chastened in the second half by a Milik free-kick – has not been rewarded. Moreover, the offensive numbers have drastically dropped: in the last six matches the grigiorossi have barely scored two goals, all in the same game.
Verona-Cremonese: the latest line-up news
In Verona Djuric will be confirmed in the centre of attack after his goal against Torino: behind him will be Verdi and Tameze, with the latter playing in a more advanced position than usual. In the middle we could see Sulemana again, who has already recovered from the injury he suffered in the Piedmont capital. At the back Dawidowicz will prevail over Gunter.
It will be 3-5-2 again for Cremonese, who will once again rely on new signing Ferrari in defence: the former Sampdoria player will complete the trio along with Bianchetti and Lochoshvili. Midfield orphaned of the disqualified Meité: in his place Milanese could play.
The Prediction
The feeling is that Verona and Cremonese are unlikely to settle for a point, given their poor standings. The problem, however, is that they both score very little: 13 goals the Scaligeri, 11, the Lombardi. Only Sampdoria has done worse. Since this is a direct clash, it is a gamble to overestimate the final result, but we can give a minimum of confidence to Verona, who gave positive signs against Torino and in our opinion could at least manage to avoid defeat. Both are likely to score at least one goal on each side.
Verona v Cremonese likely line-up
- VERONA (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Hien, Ceccherini; Lazovic, Ilic, Sulemana, Doig; Tameze, Verdi; Djuric.
- CREMONESE (3-5-2): Carnesecchi; Ferrari, Bianchetti, Lochoshvili; Sernicola, Milanese, Ascacibar, Pickel, Valeri; Dessers, Okereke.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
