Juventus vs Fiorentina

Juventus and Fiorentina will face off in a direct clash between clubs in the top 4 of the Serie A league table. The vecchia signora are coming off of a frustrating draw in their midweek match while the purple side were able to secure a big win that helped them jump right back into the UEFA Champions League zone.

Juventus played host to Torino in the Turin derby and were held to 0-0 draw. It was a wasted opportunity for Juve as they could have gained ground on both Roma and Inter Milan who had played to a draw in their match. Instead, Claudio Ranieri’s side are stuck in 3^rd place of the league table with 48 points. They are 4 points back of Roma while maintaining a 4 point edge on Fiorentina. They have now won just 1 point from their last 2 matches. There will be a few absences this week and one is major as Pavel Nedved will be serving the first of a 2 match suspension. In addition, Chiellini is also out suspended while Andrade and Marchionni are out injured. Ranieri will go with Zanetti and Sissoko on the inside of midfield.

Week 25 saw Fiorentina defeat Livorno at home by a score of 1-0 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Thanks to the victory Cesare Prandelli’s club were able to jump ahead of AC Milan in the Serie A league table and now sit in 4^th place. They have 44 points for the season which leaves them 2 points up on Milan and 4 points back of Juventus. Should i viola be able to secure the 3 points against Juventus, they would cut their deficit to 1 point. This week 3 players have been ruled out due to injury and they are the club’s top striker Adrian Mutu of Romania, Semioli and Liverani. This robs Prandelli of 3 important attacking players. Therefore, the 3 man attack will be composed of Pazzini, Jorgensen and Santana.

This promises to be a close one. Juventus have hit a low point in their season in terms of offensive production and while Trezeguet and Del Piero are set to start, the loss of Nedved will hurt. Meanwhile, despite losing Mutu Fiorentina will still feature 3 strikers and give Juventus a lot to worry about. A draw would not be surprising.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)