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Cremonese and Venezia square off in the first leg of the Serie B playoff final on Thursday (May 30). The hosts booked their spot in the showpiece event with a 4-1 home victory over Cantanzaro in the second leg of their semifinal over the weekend.
Franco Vazquez, Cristian Buonaiuto, Massimo Coda and Leonardo Sernioca scored to help their side qualify with a 6-3 aggregate victory. Venezia, meanwhile, claimed a 2-1 home win over Palermo.
Tanner Tessmann and Antonio Candela scored first-half goals, while Michael Svoboda's 86th-minute halved the deficit. The victory saw I Leoni alati qualify with a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Cremonese vs Venezia Head-to-Head
Cremonese have 21 wins from their last 60 head-to-head games with Venezia, who have been victorious on 16 occasions. Their most recent clash came last month, where Venezia registered a 2-1 comeback home win.
Cremonese form guide: W-D-W-D-W
Venezia form guide: W-W-L-W-L
Cremonese vs Venezia Team News
Cremonese
Ghanaian forward Felix Afena-Gyan is sidelined with an injury, while Mouhamadou Sarr is a doubt.
Injury: Felix Afena-Gyan
Doubtful: Mouhamadou Sarr
Suspension: None
Venezia
There are injury or suspension concerns for the visitors.
Injuries: None
Doubtful: None
Suspension: None
Cremonese vs Venezia Predicted XIs
Cremonese (3-5-1-1): Gianluca Saro (GK); Matteo Bianchetti, Luca Ranavelli, Valentin Antov; Leonardo Sernicola, Cristian Buonaiuto, Michele Castagnetti, Charles Pickel, Luca Zanimacchia; Franco Vazquez; Massimo Coda
Venezia (3-5-2): Jesse Joronen (GK); Marin Sverko, Michael Svoboda, Jay Idzes; Francesco Zampano, Gianluca Busio, Tanner Tessmann, Nunzio Lella, Antonio Candela; Joel Pohjanpalo, Nicholas Pierini
Cremonese vs Venezia Prediction
A place in the top flight awaits the winner, and a positive result in the first leg could be crucial to their promotion aspirations. Cremonese ended the regular season in fourth spot and are aiming for an immediate return to Serie A following their relegation last term.
Venezia, for their part, booked their spot in the playoff in third spot, missing out on automatic promotion by three points. Six of Veneto's last seven league games have had goals at both ends and also produced at least three goals.
The high stakes involved in this game could make both sides play cautiously. Expect the spoils to be shared in a low-scoring stalemate.
Prediction: Cremonese 1-1 Venezia
