Still unbeaten at home in Serie A this season, Monza host struggling Salernitana in Sunday's early kickoff.
While the Biancorossi sit midway through the table after seven rounds - partly thanks to Monday's victory in Sassuolo - their visitors remain winless following a second-half collapse against Inter last weekend.
Match preview
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Continuing a month-long unbeaten streak, Monza saw off Sassuolo at the Mapei Stadium earlier this week, when AC Milan loanee Lorenzo Colombo's strike decided matters and Michele Di Gregorio again impressed in goal.
In addition to avoiding defeat for their last four matches, the Lombardy side have also kept successive clean sheets in their two most recent outings - against Emilian clubs Bologna and Sassuolo - to edge themselves towards the top half of the Serie A standings.
Only once before have they recorded three consecutive clean sheets in the Italian top flight: during last season's elite-level debut, in Raffaele Palladino's first three games after taking charge.
A rookie coach this time last term, Palladino led his team to several shock results as Serie A survival was achieved by a comfortable margin, and early evidence suggests that 2023-24 could be another commendable campaign for the Biancorossi.
With Gianluca Caprari now sidelined by a serious knee injury, though, a team that have tallied just five goals from seven league matches since exiting the Coppa Italia in August are even shorter of inspiration up front.
They go in search of more goals against Salernitana this weekend, having defeated their southern counterparts in each of Serie A, Serie B and Serie C following last November's comprehensive home victory in this fixture.
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Both sides won 3-0 as hosts last season, thereby continuing Salernitana's long drought against Monza in Calcio's top two tiers: the Campanian club have never won away to the Biancorossi in 10 previous Serie A or Serie B meetings.
Paulo Sousa's men will kick off their quest to end that streak as one of three winless teams remaining in Italy's top flight this season - along with Cagliari and Udinese - and for the first time ever, Salernitana have started a Serie A campaign without a single win after seven matches.
Shortly after losing 1-0 to another struggling side, Empoli, the Granata hosted Inter at Stadio Arechi last weekend, when they kept their illustrious visitors goalless for just over an hour. However, Sousa still saw his team slayed by one of his former clubs, as Lautaro Martinez emerged from the bench to become the first man to bag four goals as a substitute in Serie A's long history.
Having been tormented by 'El Toro' on Salerno soil, then, a place in the bottom three leaves Salernitana looking up the table at Monza ahead of their latest trip north.
As the Granata's last away win in the league came nearly nine months ago, Sousa will be desperate to put three points on the board from his 100th Serie A match as a manager, which makes him just the fifth foreign coach to reach such a milestone this century.
Team News
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With Armando Izzo still hampered by a knee injury, Raffaele Palladino should stick to the same back three that shut Sassuolo out on Monday evening, but the Monza coach may have to make an enforced change in midfield.
A flexor problem for Matteo Pessina means Jose Machin is on standby to partner Roberto Gagliardini in the centre of a likely 3-4-2-1 formation.
Certainly unavailable, Gianluca Caprari will undergo surgery for his ACL injury in Barcelona, but ex-Atalanta playmaker Papu Gomez has arrived as cover and will push for a first start after making his debut from the bench earlier this week.
Salernitana's most pressing fitness concern relates to veteran forward Antonio Candreva, who missed out on meeting his old club Inter due to an adductor problem but recently returned to full training.
Lassana Coulibaly and Chukwubuikem Ikwuemesi will be sidelined again, but Paulo Sousa otherwise has a full squad to choose from and may make several changes after witnessing a late capitulation last weekend.
Pasquale Mazzocchi could therefore be promoted to the starting lineup, but Jovane Cabral and last season's top scorer Boulaye Dia are set to be retained up front.
Monza possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Carboni, Mari, Caldirola; Ciurria, Pessina, Gagliardini, Kyriakopoulos; Colpani, Vignato; Colombo
Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Ochoa; Daniluc, Gyomber, Pirola; Kastanos, Legowski, Bohinen, Mazzocchi; Candreva, Cabral; Dia
We say: Monza 1-1 Salernitana
Neither side is prolific, so a low-scoring draw could be on the cards for Serie A's Sunday lunchtime kickoff. Salernitana may have to wait a while longer for their first league victory of the season, as Monza are generally tough to beat on home soil.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
