Como vs Cittadella | All you need to know.
On April 8, 2022 by Jake IovineNothing like an early Saturday morning Serie B match when this time Cittadella travel to the lake to face off against Como.
The season is quickly coming to an end as Matchday 34 starts around the league. Last years promotion winners Como has ensured safety for next year, while Cittadella are still in the hunt for a sixth straight promotion fight.
Both these sides’ form has dipped recently. Como will be happy with a mid table finish, however, Cittadella’s season could turn into a disappointment if they are winless at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.
Here’s a look at both squads.
Cittadella
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Cittadella. Winless in seven, playoff hopes have been slipping as goal supply has plummeted.
But despite all this chaos, the Granata are still within reach of stealing a playoff spot with five games remaining. The only problem? It’s going to require some huge performances and results, followed by some help from other teams.
Edoardo Gorini’s side sit 11th in Serie B on 45 points. Their nearest playoff rival is Frosinone, who occupy 8th with 51 points. Though a six point gap may seem large, a string of two or three wins can see Cittadella chop off a lot of that deficit. Out of the remaining five games, it’s likely Cittadella will have to pull off four wins, plus a draw.
Is it hard? Absolutely, and we should’ve been much closer to the playoff zone. But is it possible? 100%. This team still has what it takes to make a final season push for promotion.
A final push would have to be led by the defense, who’s has a solid 14 clean sheets this season, the 2nd most in Serie B. One area that needs to get off and running, though, is the attack. There hasn’t been the same attack flare like we saw earlier this season in the front three. Part of this is due to the injury of Mamadou Tounkara and the season suspension of Orji Okwonkwo. Two forwards that were key to the offensive part of the game for Cittadella are out for basically the remainder of the season.
Last Wednesday the midfield with the likes of Simone Branca, Alessio Vita, and Nicola Pavan were brilliant despite not getting the important win. Pavan will be sidelined due to yellow card suspension, but Branca and Vita’s presence in the midfield aren’t unnoticed, and Cittadella certainly need more of that.
Como
Como broke Cittadella hearts last time out, scoring a 94th minute equalizing penalty to steal a point at the Tombolato last December. After going down 2-0 in the second half, Giacomo Gattuso’s side earned a hard fought comeback draw when these two sides met in the reverse fixture.
By Como’s standards, it’s been a very successful season. Coming from Serie C was going to be hard, but Como rode mid table for majority of the season, and for this they will be staying another year in Serie B. Technically, they still have a shot of reaching the promotion playoffs, with Gattuso’s men being seven points behind Frosinone.
You can’t do a Como preview and not talk about forward Alberto Cerri. On loan from Cagliari, Cerri has been an influential player for I Lariani this season, being their top scorer with 9 goals and top assister with 5 assists. Left back Nikolas Ioannou has also been a key part of Como’s team, starting in majority of the campaign.
The most likely of scenarios for Como’s game-plan is to counter attack using their wingers and fullbacks. This is where Ioannou can fill in and be a threat going forward. Expect Cerri to also be flying up the field on the counter attack. Alessio Iovine is also an important winger for Gattuso’s side, which will also be looking to counter and catch Cittadella on the fast break.
It’s hard to predict what the outcome in this match will be. Como, like Cittadella, has been even both home and away, tallying 22 points both on the road and at home. Can Cittadella finally score and win the match? Or will Como continue to make their progress up the table?