Buoyed by the Europa League victory over Grasshoppers, Fiorentina hope to start their Serie A campaign with a bang and show everyone they need to be considered serious top 3 contenders.

Meanwhile, Catania go into the new season with a somewhat changed squad and no doubt the game at Artemio Franchi will be a great test of how far they can go this term.

Having missed out on a third-place finish by mere two points, Fiorentina certainly had plenty to build on ahead of the start of the new campaign, especially with their scoring record second only to Napoli in Serie A.

And while the club chiefs could not prevent captain Stevan Jovetic from leaving, with Adem Ljajic also expected to depart, they have signed some excellent replacements.

In came Mario Gomez, Josip Ilicic, Joaquin and Ambrosini, among others, while the return of Giuseppe Rossi provided an additional boost for the club.

Fiorentina in turn impressed on their return to Europe, recording a 2-1 away victory over very good Grasshoppers side and they are now 1.53 (8/15) with Ladbrokes to continue the rich vein of form against Catania.

After failing to score in Zurich, star signing Mario Gomez is 2.00 (1/1) at bet365 to open his account in front of home fans.

Massimo Ambrosini misses out through suspension, whereas David Pizarro and Ahmed Hegazy remain sidelined through injury.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Neto – Tomovic, Rodriguez, Savic – Cuadrado, Aquilani, Valero, Fernandez, Pasqual – Gomez, Rossi.

Catania enjoyed another very successful season as they achieved an eighth-place finish, mostly thanks to boss Rolando Maran impressing after replacing Vincenzo Montella.

The Elephants remained a force to be reckoned with at their Angelo Massimino, while also showing improvement on the road, but they could find it hard to repeat a top 10 finish this time out.

In spite of all their efforts, the club management couldn’t prevent key midfielders Francesco Lodi and Alejandro Gomez from leaving, which was definitely a huge blow.

With Panagiotis Tachtsidis the only high-profile midfielder to arrive, there are no doubts the Elephants are going to face serious problems in the creative department.

Meanwhile, their full-back positions are now much stronger as Fabian Monzon and Gino Peruzzi were added to the ranks, but there is a reason why Catania are 7.65 (133/20) with Betfair to win in Florence.

Sergio Almiron and Ciro Capuano both face fitness tests, but summer signing Federico Freire continues to miss out.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Andujar – Alvarez, Bellusci, Spolli, Monzon – Izco, Tachtsidis, Almiron – Barrientos, Bergessio, Castro.

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