Fiorentina vs Catania

Fiorentina face off against Catania at the Stadio Artemio Franchi looking to get back on track after having gone winless of their last two matches. Catania are in a poor spell of their own which has seen them drop into the bottom third of the Serie A league table.

Cesare Prandelli’s side had been on a fine run until they fell at home to AC Milan two weeks ago and that was followed by a 2-2 draw away to Atalanta last week at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri D’Italia. That draw has the viola in 4^th place of Serie A with 38 points for the season. They are 6 points back of 3^rd place Juventus and 1 point ahead of AC Milan. Morale is a bit higher in the lead up to this contest given that Fiorentina are coming off of a big win in their UEFA CUP match away to Rosenborg on Thursday which saw them run out 0-1 winners thanks to a goal from Adrian Mutu. The challenge now for Fiorentina is to build off of that victory and secure the points at home this week against Catania. Among the players out injured this week are Osvaldo, Vieri and Gobbi while starting defender Ujfalusi is out suspended. On the bright side, play maker Liverani is expected to return from injury.

Catania have really hit tough times of late. Last week they dropped all 3 points at home by a score of 0-2 against league leaders Inter Milan at the Angelo Massimino. The loss drops them to 14^th place in the league table with 23 points which are good enough for a 3 way tie with Livorno and Lazio. The loss extends their unbeaten run to 6 matches of which they have lost 4, two in a row and have score just 1 goal over their last 4 straight. Manager Baldini will need to work very hard to try and find a way to put a quick end to this stretch before it lands them in the relegation zone. The two players ruled out for this match are Sabato and Japan’s Morimoto. Catania should go with their base 4-3-3 featuring Martinez, Spinesi and Colucci in attack.

Fiorentina have the edge in this match. While they did slip up at home two weeks ago Catania are no AC Milan. Making matters worse for the visitors this week is the fact that they have yet to win a single match away from home this season. Catania provide Fiorentina with a wonderful opportunity to get back to their winning ways.

Prediction: Fiorentina (2-0)