Serie A Preview: Fiorentina vs Juventus – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

Stadio Artemio Franchi sets the stage for a high-stakes Serie A showdown between top-four hopefuls Fiorentina and Juventus. Both teams faltered last weekend and will seek amends in a clash that could determine their domestic fate.

Fiorentina slumped to a 2-1 defeat at title-bidding Napoli last Sunday and, as a result, fell outside the top six at the end of the round. However, Raffaele Palladino’s side restored a feel-good factor in midweek Europa League action, overturning a first-leg deficit against Panathinaikos to lock down a quarter-final berth.

After a 3-2 loss in Greece, Fiorentina beat the Athens giants 3-1 on this ground as Moise Kean, Albert Gudmundsson, and Rolando Mandragora found the net in an enthralling contest in Florence. However, La Viola must translate their decent European form into domestic competitions to stay in top-four conversations.

Unlike Fiorentina, Juventus didn’t have to deal with the distraction of continental football after PSV Eindhoven halted their Champions League journey in the knockout playoff round. Thiago Motta’s men have spent the past seven days licking their wounds after Atalanta thrashed them 4-0 at the Allianz Stadium.

Juventus’ first 4+ goal margin league loss on home turf since 1967 struck a lethal blow on their hopes of making a late title push. More importantly, Juventus could miss out on a top-four finish altogether unless they stem the bleeding on short notice. Indeed, they commenced this round only a point clear of fifth-placed Lazio, underscoring the importance of taking a win in Tuscany.

Match Preview

Fiorentina

Last weekend’s loss in Naples marked Fiorentina’s fourth defeat in five Serie A matches since the start of February. The lone exception to this abysmal run was a narrow 1-0 home victory against season-long strugglers Lecce, highlighting the depth of the crisis at Stadio Artemio Franchi.

On the bright side, the abovementioned triumph against Panathinaikos solidified Franchi’s ‘fortress’ status. Palladino’s men have racked up four wins across their last five home outings in all competitions (L1), including an emphatic 3-0 victory against reigning Scudetto holders Inter at the start of February.

Interestingly, three of those four wins saw Fiorentina find the opening goal in the first 15 minutes. They’ve become synonymous with fast starts under Palladino. For context, they’ve netted a league-high seven goals in the opening quarter of an hour and remain the only side yet to concede in the same timeframe in Serie A this season.

Juventus

Atalanta’s scintillating performance in Turin last weekend left Motta’s future at Juventus up in the air. The record-time Italian champions have picked up fewer points than in all of their previous 13 campaigns at this stage of the season, the Bianconeri must shrug off the pressure to secure a coveted Champions League finish.

Confidence comes from the visitors’ form resurgence away from home. Juventus have won back-to-back league matches on the road via single-goal margins. However, it’s worth noting that both those victories came against bottom-half sides Como and Cagliari, with Motta’s charges finding a first-half opener on each occasion.

Florence has recently been a happy hunting ground for Juventus. Indeed, they’ve only lost once on their last eight visits to this stadium in all competitions (W4, D3). Furthermore, Fiorentina failed to find the net in five of those eight meetings, suggesting Juventus could keep consecutive away league clean sheets for just the third time this season.

Team News

With Yacine Adli back to full fitness after a brief layoff, Andrea Colpani is the only notable absentee in the Fiorentina squad. Former Juventus stars Nicolo Fagioli and Kean will have an added motive to shine this evening, with the latter seeking his 16th Serie A goal this season.

On the other hand, Juventus will take this trip without long-term absentees Douglas Luiz, Arkadiusz Milik, Gleison Bremer, and Juan Cabal. Motta’s still sweating over Francisco Conceicao’s future, with the diminutive winger likely to start on the bench.

Fiorentina vs Juventus Potential Starting Line-ups

Fiorentina (3-5-2): De Gea; Pongracic, Mari, Ranieri; Dodo, Adli, Cataldi, Fagioli, Gosens; Gudmundsson, Kean.

Juventus (4-2-3-1): Di Gregorio; Weah, Kalulu, Kelly, Cambiaso; Thuram, Locatelli; McKennie, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez; Kolo Muani.

Fiorentina vs Juventus Prediction

If December’s reverse fixture is anything to go by, fans in attendance could be in for a treat. Fiorentina held Juventus to a 2-2 draw in Turin, only to extend their winless run in this fixture to five matches (D2, L3). Their win drought could end this weekend, given Juve’s dreadful mood.