Salernitana will continue their desperate attempt to escape relegation from Serie A when they visit mid-table Hellas Verona on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors begin the weekend rock bottom of the division, whilst Verona will be eyeing up a push for the European places in the second half of the season.
Match preview
In their first top flight campaign in 23 years, a struggling Salernitana side look nailed on to suffer an immediate relegation back to the second tier, with the Garnets currently nine points behind 17th-placed Spezia.
A run of four defeats to end 2021 saw Salernitana slump to the bottom of the division, where they have remained ever since.
Only in four of their Serie A clashes this season have the hosts taken points, with Salernitana having won only two of their 18 fixtures so far.
Without a victory in their previous nine matches across all competitions, Salernitana's form at both ends has been nothing short of woeful, conceding 21 goals in that time, whilst scoring just one.
As relegation emerges as the most realistic possibility for Salernitana this season, perhaps their only saving grace is the two matches in hand that they boast over fellow relegation rivals.
Keen to extend their woes this weekend will be Verona, who have tailed off in recent weeks after a solid start to the campaign.
Losing only four of their opening 14 Serie A encounters, Verona had climbed as high as eighth in the table, but currently find themselves scratching around in 11th.
Verona have excited at times this season and the Gialloblu have not struggled in front of goal, scoring in all but three of their Serie A clashes.
That run includes the meeting between the pair from earlier in the campaign when Verona were held 2-2 away to Salernitana.
The hosts will be confident of picking up points as Verona have not been defeated at home against Salernitana since February 1998 – a wait of just under 24 years.
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Team News
Already up against it, Salernitana will travel to Verona with a depleted squad after a number of injuries hampered their progression.
Defender Stefan Strandberg will not be available for the visitors due to a hamstring problem, the same issue which is plaguing Matteo Ruggeri's stuttering campaign.
A knee injury will prevent Leonardo Capezzi from featuring for Salernitana, while Wajdi Kechrida is suffering from Covid and Lassana Coulibaly is competing in the Africa Cup of Nations for Mali.
For Verona, their injury issues stretch beyond that of Salernitana's as a Covid crisis has decimated Igor Tudor's side.
All of Lorenzo Montipo, Marco Davide Faraoni and Daniel Bessa will be absent for Verona, with a further six first-team players missing due to the virus.
Pawel Dawidowicz will not feature for Verona again this season, as an ACL injury has ended the 26-year-old's campaign, while a hamstring problem will hamper Gianluca Frabotta's hopes of an appearance.
Elsewhere for the hosts, Martin Hongla will be missing for the majority of January as he is competing at the Africa Cup of Nations with national team Cameroon.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Casale, Gunter, Ceccherini; Tameze, Ilic, Veloso, Lazovic; Lasagna, Simeone, Caprari
Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Fiorillo; Delli Carri, Gyomber, Bogdan, Gagilolo, Ranieri; Kastanos, Obi, Coulibaly; Nwankwo, Ribery
We say: Hellas Verona 2-1 Salernitana
Time is running out for Salernitana to rescue their campaign, with each passing week seeing them drift further away from safety.
There will no doubt be opportunities for the visitors this weekend, but Verona should have enough to secure the three points.
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