Chievo welcome Fiorentina to the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi Saturday, as both sides look to improve after recent disappointments.
The Mussi Volanti side have played beyond their season’s expectations and currently sit in eight place with 48 points. Coach Rolando Maran’s men will hope to gain points this week following a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Atalanta, as Marco Borriello beat Gialloblu keeper Albano Bizzarri with a stunning second half goal.
The Viola are coming out of a dry spell which dashed their hopes of securing a Champions League spot. Fiorentina have dropped points to both Udinese in a surprising 2-1 defeat, as well as a 2-1 loss to the Serie A champions Juventus. Paulo Sousa’s team still sit in fifth place with 59 points, and are fighting to qualify for the Europa League.
The last time these two sides met, Fiorentina claimed a comfortable 2-0 victory at home thanks to goals from Croatian Nikola Kalinic and Josip Ilicic, the team’s top goal scorer this season. The visitors will enter the matchup with confidence, as the Gialloblu have not defeated the Viola since 2012.
The home side will be placing a large burden on their bench, as they look to replace Federico Mattiello, Dario Dainelli, and Nicolas Frey who are all recovering from injury, as well as center back Nicolas Spolli who will be serving a yellow card suspension.
Coach Paulo Sousa will only be missing center back Yohan Benalouane, although the Gigliati have several defenders in danger or earning yellow card suspensions.
Form Guide: Chievo (L-W-D-W-W) Fiorentina (L-L-W-L-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Chievo: Bizzarri, Cacciatore, Gamberini, Cesar, Gobbi, Castro, Radovanovic, Hetemaj, Pepe, Meggiorini, Floro Flores
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu, Tomovic, G. Rodriguez, Astori, Tello, Badelj, Borja Valero, Alonso, Ilicic, Bernardeschi, Kalinic
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com