Cremonese host Spezia at the Stadio Giovanni Zini on Thursday in the first leg of the Italian Serie B playoff final. With a spot in the topflight on the line, both teams will be fired up and a closely fought, thrilling encounter can be expected here.
Cremonese arrive in the promotion playoff final off the back of a commanding 3-0 home win over Juve Stabia, overturning a 2-1 first-leg deficit at the Stadio Giovanni Zini. The result stretched their strong home form to six games unbeaten, part of a broader run of just one loss in their last 12 in front of their fans.
Goals have come easily for Cremonese at home having scored in their last 12 matches, for a total of 26 goals in that run. However, defensive issues need to be addressed as they have failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their last five matches.
Spezia head into this fixture after a 2-1 home win over Catanzaro, sealing a 4-1 aggregate victory in the semi-final after winning 2-0 in the first leg. That was the third straight win for Luca D’Angelo's men, who are heading into this clash in good form.
The visitors have looked solid going forward, scoring in each of their last nine matches, with 18 goals in that run. However, they will need to tighten up at the back, having failed to keep a clean sheet in four of their last five matches.
How the bookies view it: Slight edge for Cremonese
Cremonese have the edge among the bookies and are priced at 6/5 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Spezia is valued at 7/4 while a draw is set at odds of 21/10 with BoyleSports.
Head to head: Cremonese on top
Cremonese have a 9-3 advantage with six draws from 18 previous matches against Spezia. The hosts have also won three of the last four meetings and claimed a 3-2 away victory in the last regular season clash.
Players to watch: Eyes on the attacks
Franco Vazquez netted nine league goals for Cremonese during the regular season. He can be backed to combine with Dennis Johnsen who has netted in each of his last two playoff games to produce 0.5 goals for the hosts at odds of 1/5 on BoyleSports.
Spezia will look to Francesco Esposito to provide the spark in attack, with the forward scoring 18 goals during the regular season. He will play alongside Giuseppe Di Serio and both men can be backed to produce over 0.5 goals for the visitors at 2/7 with BoyleSports.
Probable lineups
Cremonese will be without Gianluca Saro and Valentin Antov due to injuries. However, Jari Vandeputte, Franco Vazquez and Dennis Johnsen are expected to start.
Nicolo Bertola, Mouhamadou Sarr, and Edoardo Soleri remain a doubt for Spezia. However, Giuseppe Di Serio, Giuseppe Aurelio and Esposito are all expected to keep their spots in the lineup.
Cremonese: Fulignati, Ravanelli, Ceccherini, Folino, Azzi, Castagnetti, Collocolo, Barbieri, Vandeputte, Vazquez, Johnsen
Spezia: Gori, Mateju, Hristov, Wisniewski, Aurelio, Kouda, Nagy, Cassata, Vignali, Di Serio, Esposito
Anything else catch the eye?
Four of Spezia’s last five matches have produced over 2.5 goals and a repeat can be considered at 4/5 with BoyleSports, who are also offering 21/10 for over 3.5 goals. Both teams can be backed to score at 6/10 with BoyleSports.
Four of Cremonese’s last five matches have produced a goal in each half and a similar outcome is valued at 3/4 by BoyleSports Their last three fixtures have also produced more goals after the break and a repeat is expected at 20/21.
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