Aiming to end a three-match losing streak, Hellas Verona will welcome Serie A strugglers Venezia to Stadio Bentegodi on Friday evening.
The regional rivals are separated by just two points in the standings, so victory for the visitors would take them above their hosts and out of the drop zone.
Match preview
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After starting the season in style with a comprehensive win over Napoli, Verona have since slipped down the table, and another defeat last weekend followed on from reverses against both Torino and Lazio.
Having just suffered back-to-back league losses for the first time since January, the Gialloblu fell behind shortly before half time against Como, but after they equalised from a Darko Lazovic penalty, hope was renewed.
However, Tomas Suslov then received a hotly disputed second yellow card, and down to 10 men, Verona conceded twice more and ultimately left Lombardy empty-handed from a 3-2 defeat.
Occupying 14th place in the table, with six points from as many matches, Paolo Zanetti's side will now try to avoid a fourth straight loss, as the former Venezia coach meets up with his old club on Friday.
Zanetti was in charge of Verona's next visitors when the teams last met in Serie A: back in February 2022, the Scaligeri came out on top at the Bentegodi, with Giovanni Simeone helping himself to a hat-trick.
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In fact, Verona beat Venezia in both games when the Arancioneroverdi were most recently in Italy's top tier, scoring seven times against Zanetti's relegation-bound side.
After Paolo Vanoli led them back up from Serie B last season he departed for Torino, so Eusebio Di Francesco - a former Verona coach - is now tasked with keeping the Lagunari afloat.
Amid talk of his dismissal, the latter supposedly rescued his job by finally producing a first win of the current campaign against Genoa two weeks ago, but Venezia suffered another setback last weekend.
Their 2-1 defeat against another of Di Francesco's old clubs, Roma, was particularly hard to take, because Joel Pohjanpalo's opening goal was only equalised when Bryan Cristante's long-range effort took a wicked deflection off Gianluca Busio and looped over stranded goalkeeper Jesse Joronen; then, the home side snatched a late winner.
That loss leaves them in 19th place on just four points, also extending a dismal record on the road in Serie A: stretching back to their last stay in the top flight, Venezia find themselves on an 11-game winless streak away from home.
Team News
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Verona will have two men missing for this Veneto derby due to disciplinary reasons, as Pawel Dawidowicz must sit out the second game of a two-match ban, while Tomas Suslov is suspended after his red card against Como.
Suat Serdar, Abdou Harroui and Juan Cruz are all sidelined by injury, but aside from deciding who will replace Suslov on the right flank, Paolo Zanetti's main dilemma relates to who will start up front.
Benfica loanee Casper Tengstedt is the man in possession, but Colombian striker Daniel Mosquera is the Scaligeri's top scorer this term with three goals.
Meanwhile, Venezia's main threat comes from captain Joel Pohjanpalo, who has found the net in back-to-back games and was the Lagunari's leading goalscorer in Serie B last season.
Alfred Duncan remains a doubt due to a muscular problem, while Giorgio Altare and Bjarki Bjarkason are still out of action and will return after the international break.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Tchatchoua, Daniliuc, Coppola, Frese; Duda, Belahyane; Livramento, Kastanos, Lazovic; Tengstedt
Venezia possible starting lineup:
Joronen; Idzes, Svoboda, Candela; Zampano, Ellertsson, Nicolussi Caviglia, Haps; Busio, Oristanio; Pohjanpalo
We say: Hellas Verona 1-1 Venezia
These two local rivals may be engaged in a long relegation struggle for most of this season, so there will be some tension surrounding Friday's clash.
As a result, it could be a gritty, low-scoring affair, with the points ultimately being shared at the Bentegodi.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
