Serie A Relegation Play-Off line-ups: Spezia vs. Verona

Spezia and Verona are both missing several key players in this Serie A relegation play-off, as M’Bala Nzola and Eldor Shomurodov take on Darko Lazovic and Cyril Ngonge.

These two teams finished level on points, so under the new rules, relegation is decided in a play-off, the first since Parma sent Bologna down in 2005.

That was over two legs, so the last time there was a one-off match was 1997, when Piacenza relegated Cagliari 3-1. If it is still tied after 90 minutes, it goes straight to a penalty shoot-out without needing extra time.

Spezia are decimated, as Emmanuel Gyasi and Kelvin Amian are suspended, with quite a few others either out or not fully fit, such as Daniel Maldini and Joao Moutinho. Verona aren’t faring much better, as Kevin Lasagna, Thomas Henry and Ondrej Duda are absent, but Pawel Dawidowicz has recovered in defence. When these sides met in the regular season, Spezia won 2-1 at the Bentegodi in November and drew 0-0 at home in March.

Spezia: Dragowski; Ampadu, Wisniewski, Nikolaou; Ferrer, Zurkowski, Bourabia, Esposito, Reca; Shomurodov, Nzola