We have five games in Serie A on Sunday, part of a four day weekend of football from Italy. The first to kick off is a huge game at the bottom of the table, a real six pointer as teams battle to survive in the top flight. Verona are the home team, 20 points and in 17th on the outside of the relegation zone while the visitors are Sassuolo, who have the same points but are in 18th, inside the relegation zone.
Verona Form GuideThere are three teams tied on 20 points as we head into the weekend, two inside the relegation zone, and one outside, which is Verona. That shows how tight things are, it's a massive game this, and Verona have managed to avoid defeat in three of their last five games.
They've not won, but every point matters, and with three draws, they've taken more points from the last five games than any other team currently in the bottom five. They lost last weekend, 2-0 away at Bologna, but recorded two draws before that, a 2-2 home tie with Juventus and a 0-0 tie away at Monza.
Sassuolo Form GuideDragged into the relegation battle, Sassuolo begin the weekend in the bottom three, though everything is to play for. They've not been very good recently though, somehing they need to fix quickly, as just 12 games remain in the season. They have lost their last three league games coming into this one.
The most recent of those was in midweek, and it was a big loss too, as they were beaten at home 6-1 by Napoli. They lost to Empoli before that, another team near the bottom, and lost against Atalanta 3-0 before that.
Match PredictionI think this will be a game where we see both teams trying to avoid defeat, rather than trying to win the game. And I'm not sure either are good enough to win it in those circumstances, so the bet here for me is a draw, both teams good enough to avoid defeat, but neither good enough to win it.