Heavily reinforced Fiorentina aim to return to winning ways after the unlucky defeat at San Paolo, but beating Catania will be no easy job. After holding Roma to a 2-2 draw in their opening game, the Elephants recorded a 3-2 win over Genoa last time out, meaning they arrive at Artemio Franchi full of confidence.

Fiorentina already looking good

Having signed a plethora of quality and experienced players this summer, Fiorentina were expected to show a significant improvement this season, but nobody believed the team would blend so quickly. Following the 2-1 victory over Udinese, Viola completely outclassed Napoli at their San Paolo, which is something not even some world-class sides were able to do over the last couple of years, but the team were very unfortunate not to get anything from the South. The team then continued the good form with a 4-0 friendly win over Luca Toni’s former club Al Nasr, proving they are already on top of their game. With Stevan Jovetic scoring goals for fun and new signings hinting they won’t need a lot of time to adapt, Viola can be trusted to produce another quality showing and record their second victory of the campaign.

Striker Mounir El Hamdaoui is doubtful with a knee problem, while Alberto Aquilani and Francesco Della Rocca are definitely out.

Another great start for Catania

Catania have come a long way since gaining promotion to Serie A in 2006 and the club seem to have steadily progressed ever since. Their last season was probably the most successful, with coach Vincenzo Montella leading the Elephants to 11th-place finish, but the talented manager has left the club to join Fiorentina in the meantime, which could prove to be a big loss for the Sicilian side. New boss Rolando Maran is so far doing a good job, with Catania taking four points from first two league games, but while this experienced side remain a tough nut to crack, they seem to lack some quality needed to match the best sides in the league. Boosted by the bright start of the league campaign, Catania will give their best to continue the good run at Artemio Franchi, but I am not convinced they can prevent red-hot Fiorentina from winning this game.

Rolando Maran is probably the only Serie A manager who will have the courtesy of picking from a fully fit squad this weekend.

Verdict

The impressive showing against Napoli showed Fiorentina are on the right track and they should have enough quality to see off very good Catania side. It is very possible that the players from the bench could decide this match and that is why the hosts are happy to have the likes of Luca Toni, Mounir El Hamdaoui, Matias Fernandez and Juan Cuadrado waiting in the wings.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 1.87 (20/23)

Bookmaker: BetVictor