Venezia and Palermo continue their promotion bid when they square off in the second leg of their Serie B playoff semi-final on Friday night.
The first leg saw Venezia prevail by a 1-0 scoreline, putting them in the box seat ahead of the reverse fixture at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo.
Match preview
When defeat on the final day of the regular campaign cost Venezia automatic promotion, there was the possibility of that frustration lingering ahead of the playoffs.
To their credit, though, Venezia have been able to react to losing at Spezia with a solid triumph on Friday, with Nicholas Pierini scoring the decisive goal shortly after the hour mark.
Paolo Vanoli's side have now prevailed in five of their last seven matches and possess a home record that is only going to discourage their opponents.
Venezia have won their last three such fixtures, coming through tight encounters with one 2-0 success and two 2-1 wins to show they have the capabilities to come through matches such as the one that they have next.
Furthermore, the Winged Lions have also failed to score in just one of their last 23 contests at this level, heaping the pressure on Palermo to produce what would be their best performance of the season.
In sharp contrast to the form of their hosts, Palermo have generally been poor in recent months, only winning two of their last 11 games.
To their credit, those victories were in the final two regular games of the season, and with clean sheets, too, with Sudtirol and Sampdoria being defeated.
Nine fixtures have now passed where neither Palermo or their opponents have scored more than twice in a game, indicating there could be fine margins in this contest.
However, in the corresponding league fixture back in September, Palermo prevailed by a 3-1 scoreline, something that will provide them with hope on Friday even though Michele Mignani has only been at the helm since April 3.
Team News
Vanoli may be against making any alterations to his Venezia side, although Nunzio Lella is an option to come into a five-man midfield.
Francesco Zampano may also be considered to return at left wing-back having started 28 games of the regular season.
With Kristoffer Lund having suffered an injury in the first leg, Francesco Di Mariano may get the nod at left wing-back for Palermo.
Roberto Insigne could also be recalled in the final third, but Mignani could opt to keep faith with the majority of the side that started on Friday.
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Joronen; Idzes, Sverko, Svoboda; Candela, Tessmann, Lella, Busio, Zampano; Pierini, Pohjanpalo
Palermo possible starting lineup:
Desplanches; Graves, Marconi, Lucioni; Diakite, Gomes, Ranocchia, Segre, Di Mariano; Brunori, Soleri
We say: Venezia 2-1 Palermo (Venezia to win 3-1 on aggregate)
Although Palermo came through their home fixture without anything to show from it, they have scored enough goals this season to suggest they are not out of this tie. Nevertheless, we expect Venezia to showcase why they finished 14 points clear of their opponents in the regular season with another hard-earned win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
