Fiorentina will be eager to bounce back from two losses over the past week when they host Chievo on Sunday afternoon at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The Viola suffered their first lost since October at the hands of Juventus before enduring a shock midweek loss to Carpi, knocking them out of the Coppa Italia.
Comparatively the Gialloblu will be buoyed by two successive Serie A victories over Frosinone and Atalanta as they push for a spot inside the top half of the table.
However the trip to Florence provides a much tougher assignment for coach Rolando Maran’s men, having not beaten their weekend opponents since April 2012 when goals to Sergio Pellissier and Luca Rigoni were enough for a 2-1 victory.
In fact Fiorentina has won their last six matches against the Flying Donkeys, including a 3-0 thumping in last season’s corresponding fixture, featuring goals from Josip Ilicic, Federico Bernardeschi and Milan Badelj.
Following their disappointing Coppa Italia exit, coach Paulo Sousa will be expected to deliver maximum points in front of the Florence faithful.
The Portuguese coach will be without full-back Manuel Pasqual who picked up a thigh injury in Wednesday’s loss to Carpi however otherwise has a near full strength squad to choose from.
Meanwhile Maran is expected to field a similar 11 to the team now looking for a third straight victory.
The former Chievo defender will look to his forwards to produce something special in an effort to compete with their highly credentialed opponents.
Riccardo Meggiorini leads Serie A in assists with 6 in total in addition to his four goals and will likely be partnered by Alberto Paloschi who has contributed six goals and two assists to the team.
A win for Chievo could see them jump as high as seventh position while Fiorentina will be looking to stay within reach of Inter and Napoli in addition to holding on to their spot in the top three.
Form Guide: Fiorentina (D-W-W-L-L) Chievo (L-W-L-W-W)
Expected Starting XIs:
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu; Tomovic, Rodriguez, Astori; Bernardeschi, Badelj, Borja Valero, Alonso; Ilicic, Rossi; Kalinic.
Chievo: Bizzarri; Cacciatore, Gamberini, Dainelli, Gobbi; Castro, Radovanovic, Hetemaj; Birsa; Paloschi, Meggiorini.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com