Saturday's gameweek 32 action in Serie A pits second-bottom Venezia against cellar-dwelling Monza at Stadio Pierluigi Penzo.
Both sides are in miserable form, as evidenced by one victory between them since the turn of the year, pointing to eventual relegation if neither improves in the campaign's final stretch.
Match preview
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With seven games remaining, Venezia need victories and not draws if they are to avoid immediate relegation to Serie B.
Eusebio Di Francesco's men played out a 1-1 stalemate with Lecce last weekend, preventing consecutive top-flight losses following a 1-0 home loss against Bologna to close out March.
However, the tie in Apulia was the Winged Lions' fifth in their previous six league matches after a three-match losing sequence in February.
Although Di Francesco's team have kept games tight during the recent six-match run, the team's failure to score consistently has seen the Venice-based club fire blanks in four of those contests, leaving them winless in Serie A since defeating Cagliari 2-1 in December.
Fourteen matches have passed since that success, but the Lagunari, five points behind 17th-placed Lecce, need a late-season upswing to avoid eventual relegation from the big time.
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That fate is expected to befall Monza, who have 15 points from 31 games, leaving the Biancorossi bottom of the Italian top flight and 11 points from safety.
Alessandro Nesta's return on February 10 has not inspired a turnaround in fortunes, as evidenced by the Brianzoli suffering five defeats from seven (two draws) since the former Italy centre-back's reinstatement.
Monza last tasted victory under Salvatore Bocchetti in January — a 2-1 success over Fiorentina — but have since suffered nine defeats in 11 matches, keeping one clean sheet in a goalless encounter with Lecce, whom they trail by 11 points.
Further magnifying the bottom club's struggles is their winless away streak, which stands at 11 games, including nine losses.
Eight of those defeats have been in consecutive matches on the road, and the Biancorossi aim to prevent a ninth straight disappointment on their travels this weekend.
Facing an opponent with one home victory all season, the travelling contingent will hope for a different outcome as they visit Venice.
Team News
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Second-bottom Venezia could be without as many as four players on Saturday, given the injuries to Alfred Duncan, Filip Stankovic, Michael Svoboda and Mirko Maric.
While Jay Idzes is likely to feature for the 30th league fixture this weekend, the centre-back is one yellow card away from serving a one-match suspension.
Hans Nicolussi Caviglia is the home side's leading goalscorer with four, highlighting the team's non-reliance on one player for their goals following Joel Pohjanpalo's switch to Palermo in the winter transfer window.
Georgios Kyriakopoulos will serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow of 2024-25 in Monza's defeat to Como.
Possibly absent for the visiting club are Andrea Carboni and Matteo Pessina, both of whom will be evaluated before Saturday, but Stefano Sensi's thigh injury should keep him out for a few more weeks.
Dany Mota leads the way for goals for the Biancorossi, and the forward aims to add to his five Serie A strikes this weekend.
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Radu; Marcandalli, Idzes, Cande; Zerbin, Perez, Caviglia, Busio, Haps; Oristanio, Fila
Monza possible starting lineup:
Turati; Pereira, Izzo, D'Ambrosio; Birindelli, Ciurria, Blanco, Akpro, Caldirola; Mota, Balde
We say: Venezia 1-1 Monza
While Monza have suffered eight consecutive losses away from home, conceding two or more in each game, Venezia have fired blanks in five of their recent seven top-flight games in Venice, losing three.
Unable to separate the worst home side and out-of-sorts away team, the spoils could be shared in Saturday's Serie A meeting.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
