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Brescia square off with Monza at the Stadio Mario Rigamonti in the first leg of their Serie A promotion playoff semi-final clash on Wednesday.
The hosts, who finished fifth in Serie B, head into the game fresh off the back of a 3-2 extra-time victory over Perugia in the opening playoff round and will look to keep the juggernaut rolling.
Brescia put on an impressive show of fighting spirit as they came from behind twice to claim a 3-2 win over Perugia when the sides met in last Saturday’s promotion playoff clash.
This was fresh off the back of a fine campaign in Serie B, where they picked up 66 points from 38 games to finish fifth in the league standings.
Brescia are now unbeaten in 12 consecutive home games across all competitions, picking up six wins and six draws since December’s 2-0 loss to Wednesday’s visitors.
Monza, meanwhile, will be kicking themselves after suffering a final-day 1-0 loss to Perugia which saw them miss out on the automatic promotion places by just two points.
The Biancorossi won 19, drew 10 and lost nine of their 38 Serie B games to collect 67 points and sit fourth in the table, two points off second-placed Cremonese.
Monza head into Wednesday on a run of just one win from their most recent four outings, while losing three of their last four away games since the start of April.
Brescia vs Monza Head-To-Head
The results have been split right down the middle in the history of this fixture, with both sides picking up two wins apiece from their last four encounters. The points have been shared once in that time.
Brescia Form Guide: W-W-L-D-D
Monza Form Guide: L-W-L-D-W
Brescia vs Monza Team News
Brescia
The hosts will be without Giacomo Olzer and Lorenzo Andreoli, who are both recuperating from injuries.
Injured: Giacomo Olzer, Lorenzo Andreoli
Suspended: None
Monza
Antonis Siatounis and Gabriel Paletta have been sidelined through knee and muscle injuries respectively and will sit out this tie.
Injured: Antonis Siatounis, Gabriel Paletta
Suspended: None
Brescia vs Monza Predicted XI
Brescia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Jesse Joronen; Stefano Sabelli, Andrea Cistana, Matthieu Huard, Marko Pajac; Dimitri Bisoli, Massimo Bertagnoli, Mehdi Leris; Filip Jagiełło, Stefano Moreo, Florian Ayé
Monza Predicted XI (3-5-2): Michele Di Gregorio; Mario Sampirisi, Giulio Donati, Carlos Augusto; Pedro Pereira, Patrick Ciurria, Luca Mazzitelli, Jose Machin, Salvatore Molina; Christian Gytkjaer, Dany Mota
Brescia vs Monza Prediction
With a place in the playoff final on the line, we predict both sides will take the game to each other as they seek a first-leg advantage. Brescia head into the contest as the more in-form side, and looking at their current home form, we are backing them to come away with a slender victory.
Prediction: Brescia 2-1 Monza
