Fiorentina vs Juventus – Serie A – Preview

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Sreya

Fiorentina hosts Juventus at Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence on 24th April, Sunday in a Serie A contest between two clubs in the top five of Italy’s first division. With only four games left to play, Juventus have all but confirmed their fifth Scudetto in as many consecutive seasons.

The ‘Old Lady’ of Italian football have accumulated eighty two points courtesy their twenty six wins in the league so far. Fiorentina, who are likely to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, ahead of AC Milan are on the fifth position with fifty three points.

The hosts have struggled with their recent form, having failed to win five of their previous six matches. They lost a close 2-1 match against Udinese during their last outing.

Team News

Yohan Benalouane and Khouma Babacar are Fiorentina’s only injury concerns. Juventus will be without Martin Caceres, Roberto Pereyra, Claudio Marchisio and Neto.

Fiorentina Possible Starting Lineup: Ciprian Tatarusanu, Facundo Roncaglia, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Davide Astori, Federico Bernardeschi, Borja Valero, Milan Badelj, Marcos Alonso, Josip Ilicic, Cristian Tello, Nikola Kalinic.

Juventus Possible Starting Lineup: Gianluigi Buffon, Daniel Rugani, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Stephan Lichsteiner, Sami Khedira, Hernanes, Paul Pogba, Alex Sandro, Mario Mandzukic, Paulo Dybala.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“We understand that this is a match that means a lot to everybody, so we want to make the fans happy and proud of us. We have been doing everything we can to find a way to get a positive result from this game.”

– Paulo Sousa, Fiorentina.

“We have to play a great match in Florence, and then I won’t rule out the idea of celebrating in front of the TV on Monday. It would be good to be able to move forward with this group of players, and even improve it, so we can enjoy another great season and do better in the Champions League, as we choked a bit this year. We had our heads under the water early in the season, but we did not drown.”

– Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Juventus have won four and lost only one of their previous six meetings with Fiorentina. In fact Juventus are undefeated in thirty of their last thirty three matches against Fiorentina in all competitions.

Although Fiorentina are undefeated in their last seven league fixtures, Juventus have won their last eight Serie A matches. Allegri’s side will start as firm favorites and a 3-1 result in favor of the visitors is the most likely outcome.