Fiorentina vs Juventus preview

March 19, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Fiorentina vs JuventusAfter the league defeat in Turin, Fiorentina surprised their arch rivals in the Europa League clash, having earned a 1-1 draw in the first leg, and Viola would like nothing more than to eliminate Juventus from the competition.

In spite of the first leg result, the Bianconeri remain the favourites to go through, but they will have to work hard in order to ensure progression at Artemio Franchi.

Fiorentina haven’t exactly played to their potential this season, although we have to be fair and admit injuries to star players seriously hindered their progress.

And while their Champions League dream appears to be over, Viola still need to secure European qualification, while attempting to win at least one title.

Vincenzo Montella’s side will be facing Napoli in Coppa Italia final, but they also have a chance to qualify for the Europa League quarter-finals and at the same time pour misery on rivals Juventus.

After doing well to earn a 1-1 draw in Turin, Fiorentina are available at 3.80 (14/5) to win the return match at their Artemio Franchi.

The hosts face some selection problems as Anderson, Rafal Wolski and Modibo Diakite are ineligible and Giuseppe Rossi, Matias Fernandez, Ahmed Hegazy and Ante Rebic are injured.

As things stand now, Vincenzo Montella is set to field his strongest line-up in what will be their third game against Juventus in 11 days.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Neto – Tomovic, Rodriguez, Savic, Pasqual – Valero, Pizarro, Aquilani – Cuadrado, Gomez, Ilicic.

Despite impressing in Serie A, where they are set to win their third title in a row, Juventus have failed to live up to the expectations in other competitions entered.

Having crashed out of both Champions League and Coppa Italia, the Bianconeri are determined to add the Europa League trophy to the league title.

However, they are not exactly in the driving seat after the 1-1 draw against Fiorentina, even if they remain 1.57 (4/7) favourites to qualify.

The Bianconeri can take heart from the fact they are unbeaten in last eleven matches in all competitions, while conceding just one goal in last seven.

After deploying rotation policy in previous Europa League matches, Antonio Conte could revert to his strongest line-up for the Viola game.

Sebastian Giovinco, Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Barzagli and Federico Peluso are definitely out, while Carlos Tevez is doubtful with a knee problem.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Buffon – Caceres, Bonucci, Chiellini – Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Pogba, Asamoah – Llorente, Osvaldo.

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