Battling for survival near the bottom of Serie A, Hellas Verona seek a first win in four on Sunday afternoon, when they host mid-table Monza at Stadio Bentegodi.
After being held to a goalless draw by relegation rivals Spezia last time out, the Gialloblu still sit 18th, while their visitors recently recorded a ninth win of their first top-flight campaign.
Match preview
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Aiming to join hosts Spezia on 20 points with a victory, Verona's most recent outing ended 0-0 at Stadio Alberto Picco, leaving them still winless on the road - though they at least halted a record 34-game run of conceding away from home.
Having scored their most recent goal over five hours of football ago, it is clear that even a vast defensive improvement under Marco Zaffaroni may not be enough to secure Serie A salvation.
After scoring in six of Zaffaroni's first seven matches, Hellas have failed to find the net in each of their last three, and they stand in danger of going four consecutive top-flight games without a goal for the first time since 2017.
Nevertheless, once seemingly bound for Serie B at the end of the season, Verona have lost only once at home in 2023 and have turned the Bentegodi back into a tough place to visit.
Goals may be thin on the ground, but the Scaligeri's new-found resilience should leave them confident of meting out revenge on Monza, who they lost 2-0 to in November's reverse fixture, when Giangiacomo Magnani's first-half dismissal changed the complexion of the game.
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Victorious when the sides most recently met in Lombardy, the last time Monza visited Verona in a league match came back in the 1998-99 campaign, when both teams were down in Serie B.
After an unbeaten streak to start 2023, the Biancorossi had further distanced themselves from a quick return to the second tier this season, but then lost successive games to Milan and Salernitana before hosting Empoli last weekend.
Goals from Patrick Ciurria and Armando Izzo midway through either half earned Raffaele Palladino's men a fifth home win of their first Serie A season, helping them keep a top-half finish in sight.
Monza have now accrued 32 points, and since Italy's three-points-for-a-win era commenced in 1994, the only top-flight debutant to collect more at this stage of a season was Verona's now-defunct city rivals Chievo, some 21 years ago.
Fourteen points clear of Hellas in the bottom three, they are surely safe with several months to spare, so achieving a top 10 placing will instead be the target for an ambitious club funded by former Milan supremos Adriano Galliani and Silvio Berlusconi.
Team News
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While recent regular Cyril Ngonge is set to miss out through injury - Yayah Kallon, Simone Verdi and Kevin Lasagna will vie to take his place - Verona will have first-choice goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipo back in the fold. Simone Perilli made his Serie A debut when Montipo was a late withdrawal due to illness last week.
Ngonge's fellow forwards Milan Djuric and Thomas Henry are still unavailable, along with veteran midfielder Miguel Veloso, but Ondrej Duda should recover from an ankle problem to partner Adrien Tameze in the hosts' engine room.
Linking midfield and attack, Darko Lazovic has been directly involved in six of Verona's seven Serie A strikes in 2023 (own goals excluded), the joint-most of players occupying the same position, alongside Angel Di Maria of Juventus.
Meanwhile, Monza's absence list includes Dany Mota and Nicolo Rovella, both of whom have been ruled out until after the international break by ankle injuries. Giulio Donati returns following suspension, but could be beaten by Samuele Birindelli to a start on the right flank.
After his opener last week, Patrick Ciurria has played a part in five goals since the winter break - four of his own and one assist; he starts in support of Andrea Petagna and Gianluca Caprari up front.
The latter played for Verona last season, recording his best campaign for both goals (12) and assists (seven); three of his four league goals this term have arrived away from home.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Dawidowicz, Hien, Coppola; Faraoni, Tameze, Duda, Doig; Lazovic; Kallon, Gaich
Monza possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Caldirola, Mari, Izzo; Birindelli, Pessina, Sensi, Augusto; Ciurria; Caprari, Petagna
We say: Hellas Verona 1-1 Monza
Not only are Verona suffering a long dry spell in front of goal, they have scored just five times in the second half of Serie A fixtures this season - the worst record of any team in Europe's top five leagues. Should they trail at the break, then, the Scaligeri could be in trouble, but they have improved enough to secure a point against an impressive Monza side.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
