Soccer Coppa Italia Prediction

Cremonese vs Fiorentina - Match Preview

⚽ 5 April 2023 - 19:00 GMT +0

When Cremonese face Fiorentina on Wednesday in what is only their second-ever Coppa Italia semi-final after 1987, their Serie A (SA) relegation woes will be forgotten about for the evening. It will instead be a chance for Davide Ballardini’s men to bring yet more cup joy to their fans having already dumped out big-hitting Napoli and Roma in the earlier rounds of this competition.

In this first-leg clash, the hosts are likely to be unburdened by a run of just one win from their last eight competitive matches (D2, L5) and instead be driven by the fact four of their five wins this season came in this competition. Each of those victories saw Cremonese score the match opener, so an early goal could lift the morale at Giovanni Zini Stadium as the hosts search for a precious first-leg advantage.

Fiorentina won 2-0 here as recently as mid-March, which is likely to give them the confidence to take a lead back to Florence for the second leg. The Viola are looking to make their first Coppa Italia final since 2000/01, post which they had four unsuccessful semi-final forays, and with three of those four two-legged defeats seeing them crash to an away loss, this match potentially assumes greater significance for the visitors.

Despite such poor historical omens, Fiorentina can draw on more recent history as a source of inspiration considering they are in the middle of an eight-game winning run. Such form has moved them to within a touching distance of seventh place in SA, which could be enough to secure European football, whilst also landing them a UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final. Aided by five consecutive away wins in all competitions, three of which witnessed at least a three-goal margin of victory, Fiorentina may target a statement victory here as they seek to place one foot in the final.

📋 Players to watch: Daniel Ciofani scored Cremonese’s last two goals and another here could be a great omen considering his only personal goal against Fiorentina came in a win. Looking to spoil his party could be Giacomo Bonaventura who scored Fiorentina’s winner against Inter at the weekend and also netted in his only personal H2H (W 3-2).

⚡ Hot stat: Cremonese failed to score before half-time in 13 of their last 15 competitive home matches.