A crucial match in Italy – here is our best free pick
A host of star players take to the pitch in Cremona for the first leg of the playoff final.
We are two games away from finding out which team will finish 20th in Serie A, meaning who will join the Parma-Como double. The play-offs are on paper for the moment, with 3rd and 4th placed Venezia and Cremonese fighting for glory. Let’s see what we can expect and let’s find the best pick from 22bet!
Both sides only had to go one round to reach the final because of their league positions, with Palermo for Venezia and Catanzaro for Cremoneo not a problem. This is realistic as the Venetians, for example, beat the 5th placed team by 10 points, so there is no doubt that the two strongest play-off teams will be in contention.
The home team won both their matches this year, 1-0 in Cremona and 2-1 in Venice.
Looking at the squads of the two teams, there is not a huge difference, although Cremonese’s squad is slightly more valuable, but this is due to the fact that the Tigers were among the best last year.
There is no shortage of veterans, with the likes of Bianchetti, Ghiglione, Castagnetti, Franco Vázquez, Afena-Gyan, Coda and Ciofani all familiar names, while the visitors are best known for Jajalo, Pohjanpalo and Real Madrid’s Cherysev.
We also believe that Venezia have a stronger squad, with Pohjanpalo, the top scorer, and the young American midfielder Tessmann, who has a solid pedigree, and it is no coincidence that Paolo Vanoli’s men are slightly more likely to win.
It could be good for Venezia to start away, a draw in Cremona would be a great result. At home this season, Venezia have scored the most points and scored the most goals, while Cremonese have struggled away from home.
Not sure if it will be classic goal football this time around, you can’t say either team is very underdog, so don’t be surprised by the 2.5 goal line. However, we would prefer to give the “points” to the visitors, so we will combine two cautious picks to try to win the first leg of the match.