Stumbling Fiorentina will try to bounce back from a disappointing spell on Sunday as they prepare to host Torino, who have been improving their form lately.

Viola slowing down

Following their impressive start to the season which saw them reach the summit of the Serie A standings, Fiorentina have slumped to a poor run of results. With three defeats in their last five league games, Viola have dropped to fourth in the standings and are now six points behind leaders Napoli. Paulo Sousa’s men have been dealt a huge blow in the last round of the Italian championship, as they suffered an empathic 2-0 defeat to AC Milan. The latest slump put Viola manager under a lot of scrutiny and the next game against Empoli will have more than just three points in the offer. Fiorentina have mostly used the same line-up throughout the season and the players seem to have lost the steam. Viola have been pretty effective at the start of the season scoring an average of 2 goals per game, but their scoring exploits have dried out a bit and Fiorentina have netted only two goals in their last three fixtures. Nikola Kalinic is nevertheless still topping the charts with his ten goals so far, and only Eder, Dybala and Higuain have managed more.

Milan Badelj and Tino Costa remain sidelined with their respective injuries. Matias Vecino is suspended for the occasion.

Bulls are waking up

Last year ended in thorough disappointment for Torino, who lost four matches on the bounce, to Juventus in Coppa Italia and three successive league games. They did manage to recover, though, with an exciting 4-2 triumph against Frosinone midway through January and are now heading into the Fiorentina duel on the back of the 1-1 draw at Sassuolo. The Bulls have managed to improve their defences and the return of Nikola Maksimovic from his injury will restore stability to the backline. The Serbian defender has been heavily linked with a move away from Torino, but Giampiero Ventura is doing his best to keep Maksimovic in. Torino have managed to bolster their ranks this winter and we should see an improvement in the attack with the arrival of Ciro Immobile, who is looking to revamp his career through a return to Serie A. Immobile has already made an impact to the squad as he managed to score against Frosinone, while he also helped his teammate Belotti get back in form and the two of them have already managed four goals and two assists. Torino are currently occupying the eleventh place in the Serie A standings with 26 points to the name, and possible win away at Viola would see them make two steps forward.

Ventura will have to do without Joel Obi, Vasyl Pryima, Pontus Jansson and Bruno Peres who are all out of action due to their respective injuries.

Verdict

Two rivals have been in contrasting forms these last couple of weeks and Fiorentina will have to be careful as the Bulls are raging to beat them. Ciro Immobile has been quick to rediscover his form and we should be in for an openly contested affair with goals at both ends.

Top pick: Both teams to score    1.95 (19/20) @10Bet

Alternative pick 1: Torino not to lose    2.05 (21/20) @Bet365

Alternative pick 2: Draw    3.6 (13/5) @StanJames