It could be a big weekend for Monza as they face Spezia and therefore Arsenal are on course to benefit too.
Having been promoted to Serie A for the first time in their history ahead of the 2022/23 season, I Biancorossi haven't just made up the numbers in the top flight of Italian football. No, they've more than held their own and recorded some impressive results by beating Juventus home and away whilst also winning 1-0 against Internazionale at the San Siro.
However, their biggest result of the campaign could come tonight when they face Spezia as victory for Monza would move them 18 points clear of the relegation zone with six games to play which means safety will be effectively guaranteed as long as Verona lose to Cremonese on Sunday afternoon.
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"Our goal is to put in a great performance, as I always say," manager Raffaele Palladino said ahead of the game. "It's very stimulating to win because we'd almost be safe, which for us is like winning a Scudetto. We'll have to be ready for a complicated match, the one against Spezia is a match difficult, but we are energized after a good week, we want to try to win".
"For me, salvation is worth a Scudetto, eighth place would be a Champions League. I don't know where we can get to. We can play with all of them. They are very complicated games but we certainly want to ride this enthusiasm," he added.
"We have an ambitious property and I sense during the week that they don't want to give up half an inch. There is a great desire to do this season finale in a big way. We want to finish on the left side of the standings, but we have to be overjoyed with the position we're in."
As things currently stand Monza can mathematically finish anywhere between second and 18th. The latter is an interesting scenario because as per Serie A rules, a tie-breaker would come into effect to settle the third relegated team should the 17th and 18th-placed teams finish on the same points.
But should Monza win and Verona lose on matchday 32 of the Serie A campaign, the former would then move 18 points clear of the relegation zone and barring an unlikely collapse from Palladino's side or the latter being perfect in the final six games they will be all but safe.
This would be fantastic news for Arsenal as football.london understands that a £5.9million windfall will be on the way - as per the condition that Pablo Mari's loan move would be made permanent due to Monza securing their status as in the top-flight of Italian football for a second season.
The Spaniard, who was actually Mikel Arteta's first signing as Gunners' head coach in January 2020 when he initially joined on loan from Brazilian side Flamengo, has been with the Serie A newcomers all season and has more than played his part in their impressive campaign to date.
And with his parent club already responding to his seemingly inevitable permanent departure by signing Jakub Kiwior from Spezia in the January transfer window, very soon Edu, the club's sporting director, can begin the process of trimming the first-team squad even further.
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