Serie A

Cremonese head to Verona hungry for more

Cremonese, having made a perfect start to the season, visit a Verona side looking for their first win of the campaign

An 18:30 CEST kick-off at the Bentegodi sees Hellas Verona host Cremonese in Monday’s opening fixture. The home side, after a draw on opening day against Udinese, need to make amends for their 4-0 defeat to Lazio and will be looking to claim their first victory of the season in front of their fans. Cremonese, meanwhile, don’t want to slow down. After wins over AC Milan and Sassuolo in their opening two games, they are determined to keep surprising.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

The two teams have a history of 28 previous encounters at the Bentegodi stadium. Of these, Verona has 16 victories, there have been 8 draws, and Cremonese has won 4 times. The most recent Serie A match between the two teams in Verona took place on January 9, 2023, and ended 2-0 with a brace from Darko Lazović. Verona has consistently scored in their last 13 official matches against Cremonese at the Bentegodi, with a total of 23 goals. The last goalless match between them was a 0-0 draw in the Coppa Italia in February 1987.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Gialloblu's last home victory was a 1-0 win against Fiorentina on February 23. Since then, they have recorded four draws and two losses in their subsequent six home games. Should Cremonese, has never before started a Serie A campaign by winning their first two matches, secure another win in Verona, a promoted team would lead the Serie A table after three rounds for the first time since the 2010/11 season. At that time, Cesena was at the top of the table with seven points, tied with Inter.

COACHES and PLAYERS

Franco Vazquez scored his first-ever Serie A goal at the Bentegodi stadium against Verona in September 2014 while playing for Palermo. Jamie Vardy has made 342 Premier League appearances and scored 145 goals, placing him 14th on the all-time scoring list, which is led by Alan Shearer with 260 goals. Manager Davide Nicola has also never started a Serie A season by winning his first two matches.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: none Cautioned: none

REFEREE

ARENA (ROSSI L. – BERCIGLI) IV: CREZZINI, VAR: PATERNA, AVAR: GIUA

UPCOMING MATCHES IN SERIE A

Hellas Verona-Juventus (Saturday 20 September, 18.00 CEST) Cremonese-Parma (Sunday 21 September, 15.00 CEST) (Photo Getty Images)