Cremonese welcome Juve Stabia to Stadio Giovanni Zini in Sunday's Serie B semi-final second-leg playoff contest, bidding to overturn a first-leg disappointment to secure a final berth against Catanzaro or Spezia.
Although the Wasps secured a 2-1 triumph in Campania on Wednesday, Dennis Torset Johnsen halving the deficit for the home side makes this weekend's tussle doubly intriguing with everything to play for.
Match preview
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Just when it seemed like Cremonese would rue Manuel De Luca's 63rd-minute penalty miss on Wednesday, Johnsen found the back of the net for Giovanni Stroppa's men, who enter Sunday's reverse fixture encouraged.
A 2-0 disappointment might have been hard to overturn in the reverse fixture, but the hosts enter this weekend's semi-final second leg aware of what they must do to advance to the two-legged final.
Given that Cremonese ended fourth in the regular season with 61 points, six clear of fifth-placed Juve Stabia, a narrow margin of victory would see Stroppa's team advance by virtue of their higher league standing in the competition's pre-arranged rules for such situations.
Thus, the Violini must improve on their form in Lombardy this weekend to improve on a run of two victories and three draws in five in front of their supporters, including a 1-1 tie with Sunday's visitors.
The visiting side approach this weekend's encounter in the knowledge that they avoided losing when both clubs faced off in April, playing out a 1-1 draw.
However, Guido Pagliuca's team endured a difficult time on their travels since the turn of the year, winning just one of nine regular-season away games in 2025, a 2-1 success at Cesena in late March.
While only four defeats were inflicted by their opponents in those games, three of such disappointments came at the start of 2025.
The Wasps did recover from three consecutive losses on their travels against Palermo (1-0), Sassuolo (2-0) and Pisa (3-1) to avoid losing in four of their final five matches on their travels, with last month's 2-0 Sudtirol victory the only blemish on the road to end the season.
Having said that, glass-half-empty supporters will point to their side firing blanks in their final two away games this term as a portent for Sunday's visit to Cremona, where the Yellow and Blues cannot afford to fire blanks, given their hosts' goalscoring prowess on home soil.
Team News
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While Charles Pickel and Valentin Antov are touch-and-go for this weekend, Cremonese are anticipated to be without Gianluca Saro, Luca Ravanelli and Luca Zanimacchia on Sunday.
Despite De Luca's penalty miss in the reverse fixture, the forward scored eight goals during the regular season; only Franco Vazquez (nine) scored more, highlighting the attacker's importance for the hosts.
No player on the La Cremo side created more big chances than Jari Vandeputte's 19 or surpassed him for assists (13), indicating the Belgian's ingenuity and creativity.
The visitors must do without suspended Marco Ruggero and injured Davide Buglio for this weekend's trip to Cremonese.
Andrea Adorante's 15 league goals in the regular season outdid his closest teammate, Leonardo Candellone, by nine, pointing to the club's reliance on the forward.
Cremonese possible starting lineup:
Fulignati; Folino, Ceccherini, Bianchetti; Barbieri, Colocolo, Castagnetti, Azzi; Johnsen, De Luca, Vandeputte
Juve Stabia possible starting lineup:
Thiam; Varnier, Peda, Bellich; Pierobon; Mussolini, Mosti, Piscopo, Andreoni; Adorante, Candellone
We say: Cremonese 2-0 Juve Stabia (Cremonese win 3-2 on aggregate)
Failure to prevent Cremonese from scoring in the reverse fixture could come back to bite Juve Stabia in Cremona, as Stroppa's team are expected to overturn the narrow first-leg deficit and advance to the final to face Spezia or Catanzaro.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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