- Home form: Ascoli's home form is 4 wins and 1 defeat from the last 5, scoring 11 goals.
- Visitors form: Potenza Calcio are unbeaten in the last 5, with 3 wins and 2 draws.
- Overall form: Ascoli's all-competitions form is 6-4 over the last 10, Potenza's is 5-3-2.
Chasing history
Ascoli:
Ascoli have lost their last two games and need a response here if they are to avoid taking any wobble over into this Cup encounter with Potenza Calcio. Massimo Carrera's side have been in charge since the 12th of March 2024 and they have built a solid team on the back of a high line, high pressing and good balance when they get the ball in the half-spaces.
Carrera's men should have more than enough to dominate the ball here, they like to push high up the field and they should look to pin Potenza back from the start, so this could be a 'on the front foot' kind of Cup matchup, a nice change from the usual 'under the radar' style of game.
Potenza:
Potenza are the more pragmatist side here, with Ivan Tisci's men preferring to sit back in a compact block and break forward vertically.
They have plenty of experience of this level and will surely try to keep things tight if they can. Tisci's side tend to switch between 4-3-3 and more compact systems, so they can be tricky to break down if they're happy to sit and allow the opponents to have the pressure on them, they have the pace to break in transition.
Potenza could punish any Ascoli overplay
Ascoli enter this game as the clear favorites, 1.63 to Potenza's 5.0, and that's just about right.
- Potenza have won their last 2 games in a row and they approach this game with the sort of confidence that makes them a real threat in transition.
- Ascoli have had a similar sort of form over the past month, a 3-0 home win over Union Brescia was followed by defeats to both Frosinone and SS Lazio.
- The latter 2 games were away and so Ascoli's form is a little tougher to assess than Potenza's, who have a 2-1-2 away record from their last 5 and have conceded just 5 goals in total.
Going against the grain
Ascoli are the favorites and Potenza are in good form, so it would be easy to suggest that the visitors could upset the odds a bit. However, we'll go against the grain here and suggest that the most likely outcome is still a home victory, although it won't be a walk in the park for Ascoli.
Under 2.5 goals at 1.87 and BTTS-No at 1.77 both make sense in this matchup, as the draw at 3.6 looks a touch skinny for a game where Ascoli are very much expected to control proceedings. As such, the most obvious selection is Ascoli to win, but not to kill.
The two teams' differing styles of play should make this a fascinating matchup. Ascoli's 4-2-3-1 looks built for territorial control and quick counter-pressing, while Potenza's best work is done when they can spring forward. This is a classic tactic-vs-tactics type of game.
