Juventus vs Fiorentina preview

March 4, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Fiorentina vs JuventusSerie A leaders Juventus host rivals Fiorentina in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals, hoping to edge closer to winning the first Italian Cup title since 1995.

Meanwhile, Viola aim to take advantage of their impressive form in the league and Europa League and record a positive result in Turin.

The Bianconeri are still in the race for three major titles, which is exactly where they want to be, with the Serie A trophy already in the bag after the 1-1 draw at Stadio Olimpico.

Juventus had a perfect chance to increase the advantage over Roma to huge 12 points, but they allowed ten-man Giallorossi to level the score and keep slim title hopes alive.

Meanwhile, the Old Lady defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Champions League first knockout stage, although it won’t be easy for Max Allegri’s men to secure the progress into the next stage.

Juventus are now turning their attention towards the Coppa Italia, a competition where they have largely struggled of late, and that should give the players an extra motive to do well against Fiorentina.

And with the Bianconeri unbeaten in last four meetings with Viola, they can be backed at 1.57 (4/7) to win the first leg in Turin.

Coach Max Allegri is expected to make serious changes to his starting line-up, with Paul Pogba unlikely to be risked and Marco Storari set to start in goal.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-2): Storari – Barzagli, Bonucci, Caceres – Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Marchisio, Pereyra, Padoin – Tevez, Llorente.

Fiorentina endured some tough times during the current campaign, but they have somehow managed to get their season back on track.

The narrow loss to bottom-placed Parma appears to have served as a wake up call for Viola, who have since recorded eight wins and four draws in all competitions.

Oddly enough, it was Chelsea reject Mohamed Salah who had an important role to play in recent impressive results, scoring four key goals to help Fiorentina revive their top 3 bid in Italian Serie A as well as qualify for the Europa League last 16 stage.

Having closed the gap behind third-placed Napoli to mere three points, Viola can fully focus on the Coppa Italia clash with Juventus, where they are 3.50 (5/2) to make it to the final.

Nenad Tomovic is out after suffering a concussion at the weekend, but Borja Valero, Mati Fernandez and Angelo Basanta could return.

The likes of Khouma Babacar, Stefan Savic, Giuseppe Rossi and Federico Bernardeschi are out injured, but Mohamed Salah should start.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Neto – Richards, Rodriguez, Basanta, Alonso – Badelj, Pizarro, Aquilani – Joaquin, Gomez, Salah.

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