Both seeking points to aid their scrap for Serie A survival, Hellas Verona and Frosinone meet at Stadio Bentegodi on Sunday afternoon.
Hellas lost to Roma last weekend and remain stuck inside the drop zone; meanwhile, their fellow Gialloblu were 3-1 winners over Cagliari - halting a worrying slide down the standings.
Match preview
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Having never before beaten Roma in the Italian capital, Verona came up short again at Stadio Olimpico last Saturday night, when their hosts began life under new boss Daniele De Rossi.
Trailing by two goals before the half-hour mark, Hellas saw captain Milan Djuric miss from the penalty spot after 66 minutes, before midfielder Michael Folorunsho later pulled one back, but they were ultimately beaten 2-1.
The Scaligeri have now lost eight of their last 10 away games in Serie A, but they did take maximum points from their first home fixture of 2024, versus relegation rivals Empoli two weeks ago.
Marco Baroni's men now return to Stadio Bentegodi, where they have picked up 12 of their 17 points so far, and they may sense a chance to record their second home win on the spin, as their opponents hold the weakest away record in the Italian top flight.
Deeply embroiled in the danger zone, Verona's hopes of survival may rest on beating other bottom-half sides at the Bentegodi, and earning a first Serie A victory over Frosinone would pull them to within two points of their fellow Gialloblu.
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Including a 2-1 home success in October's reverse fixture, Frosinone have won all of their three previous top-level matches against Verona.
Despite a dismal away record, the Canarini will hope to extend that streak to four on Sunday, after ending their worst run of results since returning to Serie A last year as second-tier champions.
Last time out, they saw off Cagliari 3-1 at Stadio Benito Stirpe, thanks to a second-half comeback sparked by captain Luca Mazzitelli, who drew his team level on 64 minutes; Juventus loanees Matias Soule and Kaio Jorge then found the net later on.
That came as quite a relief to Frosinone fans, who had seen their club take just one point from seven games while conceding a hatful of goals, and they will now aim to record successive Serie A wins for the first time since April 2019, when Baroni was in charge.
Current boss Eusebio di Francesco also meets his former club this weekend, when Frosinone will seek an end to their win-drought away from home: across Europe's top five leagues, only La Liga strugglers Granada and Almeria have won fewer points on their travels.
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Although Cyril Ngonge and Josh Doig have both departed, as Verona's financial woes continue, Portuguese midfielder Dani Silva signed from Vitoria Guimaraes this week, while Reda Belahyane has swapped Ligue 1 club Nice for Stadio Bentegodi.
Marco Baroni's hand will also be strengthened by the returns of Darko Lazovic, Ondrej Duda and Diego Coppola from suspension, leaving injured back-up goalkeeper Alessandro Berardi as the hosts' only absentee.
Since the start of November, Tomas Suslov has started all 10 of the Scaligeri's league matches, attempting 14 shots from outside the box (ranked third in Serie A), completing 18 dribbles (eighth) and winning 24 free kicks (fifth). The Slovakia international should again link up with veteran target man Milan Djuric in attack.
The latter may fancy his chances of scoring on Sunday, as Frosinone's defensive department remains short-handed due to the absences of Riccardo Marchizza, Anthony Oyono, Ilario Monterisi, Pol Lirola, Mateus Lusuardi and recent arrival Kevin Bonifazi.
Skippering the Canarini from midfield, Luca Mazzitelli is an influential figure: they average 1.4 points per game with their captain starting, compared to just 0.5 when he does not.
Meanwhile, Matias Soule - who scored in the reverse fixture versus Verona - is the visitors' most productive forward. The Juventus loanee has netted nine Serie A goals this term and is one of only two men across Europe's top five leagues to have scored from a direct free kick, a penalty, right-footed, left-footed and with a header this season, alongside Dusan Vlahovic.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Tchatchoua, Dawidowicz, Magnani, Cabal; Folorunsho, Duda; Mboula, Suslov, Lazovic; Djuric
Frosinone possible starting lineup:
Turati; Zortea, Okoli, Romagnoli, Gelli; Mazzitelli, Barrenechea, Brescianini; Soule, Reinier; Jorge
We say: Hellas Verona 1-2 Frosinone
Frosinone can finally get off the mark with an away win, as they will meet one of Serie A's least effective attacking teams this weekend. Verona average under one goal per game, and recent departures have only weakened them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
