Overview
Cremonese is facing the risk of relegation in Serie A as time is running out. After staying in the league thanks to the play-offs last season, the Lombardy team fell into a spiral of crisis again.
Although there is still one match to play against Lecce, Cremonese is still 4 points behind their direct opponent. The heavy 0-4 defeat to Napoli in the most recent round further deepened their poor performance streak. They have only won 1 in the last 20 matches (14 losses, 5 draws).
Home advantage also does not bring much hope. Cremonese has only won 13/48 maximum points at Stadio Giovanni Zini and has not won any home matches in 2026. The attack is a major weakness when they only scored 4 goals here, in the context of Jamie Vardy continuously injured and Federico Bonazzoli declining in form.
Once led by Davide Nicola in the first leg draw with Lazio, coach Marco Giampaolo is now under pressure to win all 3 points if he does not want his team to get closer to relegation prospects.
In the opposite direction, Lazio just qualified for the Coppa Italia final after a dramatic penalty shootout, before returning to Serie A with a 3-3 draw against Udinese at Stadio Olimpico. Daniel Maldini's late equalizer helped them keep one point in a volatile match.
This result puts Lazio in 8th place, 6 points behind Atalanta in the race to win tickets to European cups. Their chances also depend on whether Inter Milan wins the championship or not, but Maurizio Sarri's team still hopes to save the season with titles.
Despite facing many internal and financial problems, Lazio has shown signs of improvement when winning 4/7 recent matches in Serie A - equal to the total number of wins in the previous 17 matches. Notably, they have just ended Napoli's unbeaten streak at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
However, Lazio's away form is still a big question mark. They have gone through 10 consecutive matches without scoring away - the worst number in the league - although they still have 9 clean sheets, equal to Inter's record.
Personnel situation
Cremonese received positive signals when Martin Thorsby and Michele Collocolo returned to full training. However, Faris Moumbagna is likely still unable to participate.
The home team is also at risk of missing Jamie Vardy due to a muscle injury, causing the trio Milan Duric, Antonio Sanabria and David Okereke to compete for a pairing spot with Federico Bonazzoli in attack.
Bonazzoli is still the top scorer of Cremonese, although he has not scored from open situations since the beginning of March. Notably, he has made 12 appearances for Lazio in Serie A without contributing to any goals.
On Lazio's side, the attack was also not too effective when wingers such as Matteo Cancellieri, Gustav Isaksen and Pedro both led the scoring list with only 4 goals.
Pedro himself continued to show his scoring talent from the bench. The goal against Udinese helped him increase his total number of goals from the bench in Serie A to 17 since 2020 - the best achievement in the league in this period.
Because the Cancellieri have to serve a suspension, Isaksen may be pulled back to play right-back. Meanwhile, captain Mattia Zaccagni's ability to play is still uncertain due to a thigh injury.
In the goalkeeper position, Lazio also suffered losses when both Ivan Provedel and Alessio Furlanetto could not play.
Expected lineup:
Audero, Terracciano, Baschirotto, Luperto, Pezzella, Barbieri, Bondo, Maleh, Vandeputte, Bonazzoli, Sanabria.
Motta, Lazzari, Romagnoli, Provstgaard, Pellegrini, Basic, Patric, Taylor, Isaksen, Maldini, Noslin.
The match between Cremonese and Lazio takes place at 11:30 PM on May 4th (Vietnam time).
