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Catanzaro and Cremonese will be looking to place one foot in the final of the Serie B promotion playoff when they go head-to-head on Tuesday. With both home and away league meetings between the two sides ending in goalless draws, we anticipate another cagey affair at the Ceravolo Stadium.
Former Sassuolo striker Pietro Iemmello turned in a superb individual performance as he scored twice and set up another to fire Catanzaro to a 4-2 extra-time victory over Brescia in their playoffs quarter-final clash on Saturday.
Prior to that, Vincenzo Vivarini’s men were on a two-game losing run, suffering consecutive defeats at the hands of Ternana and Sampdoria in their final two Serie B games.
Despite their poor end to the season, Catanzaro enjoyed a solid league campaign as they finished fifth in the table with 60 points from 38 matches.
Cremonese, on the other hand, cruised to an emphatic 3-0 victory over Cittadella in their final outing of the 2023-24 Serie B campaign on May 10.
This capped off an impressive league campaign for Giovanni Stroppa’s men, who finished fourth in the league standings with 67 points from 38 games.
Cremonese get their playoff run underway against a Catanzaro side who they failed to get the better of in their two league encounters this season.
Catanzaro vs Cremonese Head-To-Head
This will be the fifth meeting between the two sides, with Cremonese claiming one win and three draws in their previous four encounters. The two league meetings between Catanzaro and Cremonese this season ended goalless.
Catanzaro Form Guide: W-L-L-W-D
Cremonese Form Guide: W-D-W-L-D
Catanzaro vs Cremonese Team News
Catanzaro
The home side will be without Giuseppe Ambrosino, Luca D'Andrea and Andrea Ghion, who are all recuperating from injuries.
Injured: Giuseppe Ambrosino, Luca D'Andrea, Andrea Ghion
Suspended: None
Cremonese
Michele Collocolo, Felix Afena-Gyan, Luca Ravanelli and Mouhamadou Sarr have been ruled out through injuries and will sit out Tuesday’s first leg.
Injured: Michele Collocolo, Felix Afena-Gyan, Luca Ravanelli, Mouhamadou Sarr
Suspended: None
Catanzaro vs Cremonese Predicted XI
Catanzaro Predicted XI (4-4-2): Andrea Sala; Nicolo Brighenti, Stefano Scognamillo, Matias Antonini Lui, Davide Veroli; Dimitrios Sounas, Simone Pontisso, Jacopo Petriccione, Jari Vandeputte; Tommaso Biasci, Pietro Iemmello
Cremonese Predicted XI (3-5-2): Gianluca Saro; Matteo Bianchetti, Luca Marrone, Luka Lochoshvili; Luca Zanimacchia, Gonzalo Abrego, Michele Castagnetti, Cristian Buonaiuto, Giacomo Quagliata; Massimo Coda, Cesar Falletti
Catanzaro vs Cremonese Prediction
In what is a season-defining fixture, we expect Catanzaro and Cremonese to go all out in search of a vital first-leg victory.
However, we predict both sides will cancel out each other’s efforts, setting up a frentic end to the tie in the second leg.
Prediction: Catanzaro 1-1 Cremonese
