Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 5/4
Bookmaker: BetUS
On Friday, the two bottom-placed teams in the Serie A will meet at the Stadio Arechi, with Salernitana hosting Sassuolo.
Salernitana, who currently sit at the bottom of the league table, are facing an uphill battle with eight league games remaining. They trail their upcoming opponents by 10 points. Sassuolo, meanwhile, are just one point away from leaving the relegation zone.
Salernitana
Having successfully avoided Serie A relegation in the previous two seasons, Salernitana find themselves enduring a dismal campaign this time around. With just 14 points on the board after 30 games, they are all but condemned to the drop.
Throughout the season, I Granata have managed only two victories, both occurring in 2023, and have added a mere two more points to their tally in 12 attempts since the start of the year. The poor run of form in early 2024 led to the end of Filippo Inzaghi’s brief managerial tenure. Fabio Liverani took over but could only oversee four defeats and a draw before Stefano Colantuono returned to lead the club during the March international break.
In his third spell in charge, Colantuono’s first match saw Salernitana face Bologna, resulting in a 3-0 defeat with goals from Riccardo Orsolini, Alexis Saelemaekers, and Charalampos Lykogiannis. This loss marked three consecutive top-flight defeats for I Granata for the third time this calendar year.
With only eight games left to play and sitting 10 points behind 19th spot, with an 11-point gap to safety, Salernitana’s hopes of remaining competitive rely heavily on a dramatic upturn in form in the final stretch of the season. They will aim to kickstart this turnaround by ending their three-month wait for a third league win of the season on Friday.
If they don’t, their chances to survive will be practically gone.
Team News
Salernitana will be without veteran defender Federico Fazio on Friday due to injury, while Grigoris Kastanos, who missed their previous game after the international break, may also remain absent for the weekend fixture.
Following their recent 3-0 defeat, Stefano Colantuono might consider making several changes to his starting lineup. Jerome Boateng could potentially be included in the defence from the first whistle, as he made a brief substitute appearance against Bologna after returning from his own injury setback.
If Boulaye Dia remains unavailable, Simy may continue to lead the attack. Additionally, 37-year-old Antonio Candreva continues to play a crucial role in a supporting position, having contributed significantly with five goals and six assists out of his side’s 23 Serie A goals so far this season.
Sassuolo
The visiting team also approaches the upcoming game with a gap to safety, though it is comparatively smaller as the final weeks of the campaign loom. Sassuolo, by their own standards, have faced a disappointing Serie A season too.
Despite being in their 11th consecutive term in Serie A, Sassuolo find themselves in a precarious position, a stark contrast to their consistent finishes above 13th place in the last nine years. Presently, they languish in the drop zone amidst a dismal run of form.
Out of their 30 games played so far, I Neroverdi have only managed to gather 24 points, securing victories in merely six of those matches. Their most recent win occurred in early March, breaking an eight-game winless streak that yielded only a single point at the beginning of the new year.
Under the guidance of Davide Ballardini since March, Sassuolo failed to capitalize on their return to winning ways against Frosinone in subsequent attempts. Their endeavors resulted in a 1-0 defeat against Roma prior to the recent international break, followed by a 1-1 draw against Udinese at home. Although they took the lead through Gregoire Defrel in the 41st minute against Udinese, they were swiftly pulled back by Florian Thauvin.
Nonetheless, the draw enabled Sassuolo to remain within a point of safety as they head into the final eight Serie A matches of the campaign. Their objective now is to climb out of the bottom three and invigorate their survival prospects with a much-needed victory on the road on Friday.
Team News
Sassuolo will continue to be without their influential forward Domenico Berardi, who has missed their last three matches due to injury, despite recently returning from a previous layoff.
In his absence, the attacking burden will once again rest heavily on striker Andrea Pinamonti, who, like Berardi, has contributed nine goals in Italy’s top flight this campaign. Supporting Pinamonti will be Kristian Thorstvedt and Gregoire Defrel, with Samu Castillejo aiming to reclaim his starting position.
In midfield, Daniel Boloca and Pedro Obiang are both vying for spots, as Uros Racic was preferred alongside regular Matheus Henrique in their encounter with Udinese on Monday.
Conclusion
Despite their struggles throughout the Serie A campaign, Sassuolo possesses enough quality to overcome the bottom-placed side on Friday, even in the absence of their talisman in Berardi. A victory in this match would represent a significant step towards survival for Ballardini’s men and could mark a return to winning ways for them.
Verdict: Away win
Best odds: 5/4
Bookmaker: BetUS
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