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)

Atalanta vs Fiorentina

Week 22 gets underway in Italy’s Serie A with Atalanta playing host to Fiorentina. The bergamaschi are coming into this contest off of a big win away from home last week while Fiorentina suffered a demoralizing defeat at home to AC Milan.

Atalanta are currently in 7^th place of Serie A with 29 points on the campaign. They are 4 points back of 6^th place Udinese and 1 ahead of Sampdoria. With their victory away to Parma by a score of 2-3 at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, Gigi Del Neri’s side were able to extend their unbeaten run to 3 consecutive matches. Del Neri has some problems coming into this contest as in addition to the injured Talamonti, he will be dealing with 3 suspended players with Doni headlining that list. Doni is the heart and soul of the side and currently leads the club with 8 goals. Costinha was also a late scratch from the squad list. Atalanta should go with their standard 4-4-2 with Paolucci coming on for Doni.

Fiorentina received a loud wake up call last week as they had their 4 match win streak snapped by AC Milan by a score of 0-1 at the Artemio Franchi. The result leaves Cesare Prandelli’s side in 4^th place of Serie A with 37 points and they are 4 points back of Juventus and 4 ahead of 5^th place AC Milan. The result was a big blow to club morale as they had approached it as a big test and they were unable to come through. Fiorentina did appear to have the equalizer in stoppage time only to have Kalac make an extraordinary save and that just added to their overall misery on the day. Much like Atalanta, the viola will have a huge absence of their own as Adrian Mutu, the club leader with 13 goals, is out injured after picking up a knock in a friendly match for Romania. Semioli looks set to get the start.

Morale will have a lot to do with this contest. Atalanta are on a high note following their big win away to Parma though that is tempered a bit by the loss of Doni. Meanwhile, Fiorentina not only lost at home but now they have lost their most dangerous striker. It will be an uphill battle for the visitors.

Predicition: Atalanta (2-1)

Fiorentina vs AC Milan

Fiorentina will host AC Milan in week 21 in a contest that features two clubs that are in impressive form of late. After some recent struggles the viola are finding their top form, while Milan have climbed from 12^th place to 6^th place in the span of 3 weeks.

The side managed by Cesare Prandelli are coming off of a 0-2 victory away to the struggling Empoli in their week 20 match at the Carlo Castellani. It was their 4^th consecutive victory. That 4 match win streak has seen them outscore the opposition by 11 goals to 3 and every facet of the club is running on all cylinders at this time. Those 3 points against Empoli give the side from the Artemio Franchi 37 points on the present campaign. Those 37 points have them in 4^th place of the Serie A table where they sit just 3 points back of the mighty Juventus and 4 points on top of Udinese. They will be missing Liverani to injury this week while Donadei will be serving a one match suspension. Liverani’s spot as play maker will go to Jorgensen in Prandelli’s 4-3-3 with Adrian Mutu, Pazzini and Santana in attack.

AC Milan were able to keep the points at home in round 20 with a solid 2-0 victory over Genoa at San Siro. The victory helps the rossoneri reach 6^th place in the Serie A with 30 points on the year. Carlo Ancelotti’s club are 3 points back of 5^th place Udinese and 2 points ahead of Sampdoria who sit in 7^th place. A victory over 4^th place Fiorentina in this contest would see AC Milan get within 4 points of the 4^th spot. On the injury front Dida is back at full training but Kalac is expected to get at least one more start in goal. Pippo Inzaghi, Ronaldo, and Gennaro Gattuso remain out. There exists the possibility that Ancelotti will go with just Gilardino as the lone striker in a 4-3-2-1 to help reinforce the midfield. That would leave the impressive Pato on the bench.

Expect this one to be very close. The fact that Ancelotti is toying with the idea of leaving Pato on the bench underscores the respect AC Milan have for Fiorentina. The loss of Gattuso in midfield is huge for the AC Milan defense and Emerson could be exposed by Fiorentina. The home side could squeak out the win.

Prediction: Fiorentina (1-0)

Parma vs Fiorentina

Parma return home to host Fiorentina at the Tardini hoping that their recent good run at home continues. Fiorentina are on a high note having just put forth one of their most impressive offensive performances of the season in their last Serie A match at home to Cagliari.

The side managed by Domenico Di Carlo are in 13^th place of the league table with 18 points. They are just behind 12^th place AC Milan on goal difference and just ahead of Lazio. In their last match before the end of year break they were beaten on the road away to Genoa by a score of 1-0. The result continues a pattern of Jekyll & Hyde results for Parma depending on whether they are home or away. They have lost their last 3 matches without scoring a goal on the road, while winning their last 2 without conceding a goal at home. Should that pattern continue it stands to reason that they will win this match without conceding a goal. The club gets a boost in the back line this week as Castellini is available and will be at the left fullback position.

Cesare Prandelli’s club are in 5^th place of the Serie A table with 28 points. This leaves them just 1 point back of 4^th place Udinese and 3 points ahead of upstarts Palermo.The Purple side scored 5 goals in their last match when they held serve at home to trounce the struggling Cagliari by a score of 5-1at the Artemio Franchi. This week they will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 3 matches when they visit Parma. The good news for Prandelli is that there are no injury or suspension concerns meaning the viola are at full strength. Look for them to go with a 4-3-3 featuring Adrian Mutu- their leading scorer with 9 goals, Christian Vieri and the Argentine Santana in attack.

This is a tough one for Parma. While they have won 2 straight at home they have just 4 wins at home for the season and will taking on a Fiorentina outfit who are not only in better overall form, but they are at full strength and have lost just one match on the road all season. Look for the visitors to hold out for point.

Prediction: Draw (0-0)

Fiorentina vs Cagliari

Fiorentina return home looking to get back on the right track against the struggling Cagliari at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Cagliari are at the bottom of the Serie A league table and almost could not find a manager to guide them this week. They could very well turn out to be just what the doctor ordered for a Firenze outfit who have not won a match in over a month.

At this time the side managed by Cesare Prandelli sit in 5^th place of Serie A with 25 points, 3 points back of 4^th place Udinese. Last week they were able to hold out for a 2-2 draw away to Sampdoria at the Luigi Ferraris at Marassi. Unfortunately for the purple side that result was the highlight of their last 5 matches which have seen them go winless. In fact, their last victory came back on the 31^st October. They did do well in the UEFA Cup this week as they disposed of Mlada Bolslav and will face Rosenborg in the Round of 16. On the injury front keeper Sebastian Frey remains sidelined while defender Gamberini looks set to return. Prandelli looks set to face the struggling side from Sardinia with a 4-3-3 featuring Adrian Mutu, Pazzini, and Santana upfront with Liverani pulling the strings from midfield. Lupatelli will once again spell Frey in goal while veteran Christian Vieri will start on the bench.

Cagliari are in loads of trouble as the season reaches the New Year’s break. They are in 20^th place out of 20 clubs with 10 points and sit just behind the equally inept Reggina on goal difference. They are coming off of a 0-2 loss at home to Inter Milan in their week 16 match. Following that result manager Nedo Sonetti decided to hand in his resignation just 5 matches after having taken over for Giampaolo. However, the board did not accept his resignation and he is back in charge of the club, reluctantly so. It’s hard to think that his next 5 matches in charge can be any worse as the club has obtained just 1 point over his first 5. Overall the club has lost 10 matches with 5 of those coming at home. To make matters worse, their top player Foggia has made it publicly known that he would like to be transferred. With that mindset Sonetti will ask him to start on the left flank of midfield in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Acqufresca as the lone striker.

It is not too difficult to see how this one should shape up. Fiorentina are hungry for a win to get them back on the right track while Cagliari have not won a match since September. Fiorentina are on paper the stronger squad while Cagliari are just plain awful this year. They were only worth watching for David Suazo over the past few years and he is now long gone.

Prediction: Fiorentina (2-0)

Sampdoria vs Fiorentina

Sampdoria return home to host Fiorentina looking to continue their recent success at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. In fact, the side managed by Walter Mazzari have posted back to back 3-0 victories at home in their last 2 matches over Empoli and Reggina respectively. The Viola come into this match on a 4 match winless run, 5 if you count their last match which was a 1-1 draw away to Ascoli in the Coppa Italia.

The blucerchiati currently sit in 9^th place of Serie A with 20 points, 1 back of 8^th place Palermo.They have been quite Jekyll & Hyde like when it comes to playing at home or away. They lost 2 matches on the road over a 4 day period this week, first 3-2 away to Udinese at the Stadio Friuli and then dropped their Coppa Italia match away to Cagliari at the Sant’Elia.There are a couple of injury concerns this week for Mazzari as Montella and Delvecchio remain out. Samp will also be without the suspended Sammarco. Franceschini looks set to come on for Sammarco in a 3-4-2-1 scheme with Antonio Cassano as the lone striker and Bellucci playing to the left of Franceschini.

Cesare Prandelli has got his own problems in terms of injury concerns. Just when it appeared that things were getting back to normal with the return of Adrian Mutu, Fiorentina have now lost keeper Sebastian Frey until at least January as he underwent minor surgery this week. This means Lupatelli will be the man in goal at Marassi. The Viola’s 4 match winless run in Serie A has seen them drop back to 5^th place with 24 points, 4 back of Udinese. Their last win came back on the 3^rd of November when they won away to Lazio. Aside from Frey the only other injury concern is defender Gamberini so Dainelli and Kroldrup will be the center back combo with the returning Ujfalusi at the right fullback position. They will need to be extremely concentrated so as to help out Lupatelli in goal.

It’s interesting that despite not having Frey in goal, Prandelli will stick with a 4-3-3 set as both Mutu and Christian Vieri look set to start up front. This aggressiveness could come back to hurt Fiorentina if Sampdoria can maintain their recent positive form at home. This is especially true given the number of changes that Fiorentina have been forced to make at the back and in goal. Look for Samp to hold serve.

Prediction: Sampdoria 2-1.

Palermo vs Fiorentina

Palermo and Fiorentina will face off at the Stadio Renzo Barbera in a match between two sides looking to overcome recent obstacles. Fiorentina had gotten off to a blazing start with an 11 match unbeaten run to start their campaign but are now winless over their last 3 matches with 2 losses over that stretch. Meanwhile, Palermo have won just 1 of their last 5 matches and are losers of 2 in a row during which time they have been outscored by a count of 8-1.

Francesco Guidolin’s side last won a match at home back in week 12 when they held serve against Napoli by a score of 2-1. The next two matches were a 5-0 loss away to Juventus and then a 3-1 loss last week away to Catania. That loss was extremely painful as it was a derby match for Palermo. They have now dropped to 11^th place with 18 points and sit just behind 10^th place Catania. While midfielder Fabio Caserta will be out suspended this week, Guidolin will once again be able to count on Pisano, Fabrizio Miccoli and the Uruguayan Edison Cavani who all missed out on the derby. The formation against the purple side is expected to be a 4-3-2-1 with Amauri as the long striker. However, this is really more of a 4-3-3 as both Miccoli and Cavani who will play behind Amauri can be considered strikers.

As for Fiorentina manager Cesare Prandelli, he has a number of injury concerns particularly with the back line. Ujfalusi and Kroldrup are both out which leaves Dainelli and Gamberini as the choices to partner at the center back position. This is not exactly what Prandelli needed when looking to snap the club’s current 3 match winless run. The bright spot is that Montolivo will return to the left side of midfield. It was hoped that the return of Romanian Adrian Mutu to the attack in the match against Inter Milan would inspire the Fiorentina attack but they stumbled once more before losing 2-0. The have now been kept scoreless in back to back matches and have scored just one goal over the last 270 minutes. They will be hoping that having both Mutu and Montolivo back on the left flank will help make their ball movement more fluent and cohesive.

With both clubs going through similar down periods this match has draw written all over it. A point at home for Palermo against Fiorentina at this point in the season would be nothing to sneeze at and Fiorentina do sport the 3^rd best defense in Serie A along with a top notch keeper in Sebastian Frey.

Prediction: draw 0-0

Fiorentina vs Udinese

Fiorentina have been the surprise of the season in Serie A. A combination of grit, determination, and excellent production from key players has manager Cesare Prandelli’s side just 2 points back of league leaders Inter Milan through 11 rounds. The side from the Stadio Communale are one of only 3 unbeaten sides in the first division and are currently in the middle of a stretch that has seen them not concede a goal over 4 straight matches. As if that were not impressive enough, the Viola are coming off of a 6-1 slaughter of Elfsborg in their midweek UEFA Cup match. That victory extended their unbeaten run between Serie A and Europe to 21 consecutive matches.

The strong defensive effort is not to say that Fiorentina do not have a better than average attack. On the contrary, the combination of Montolivo and Romanian Adrian Mutu along with veteran Christian Vieri off of the bench gives opposing defenses fits. They have posted a very impressive goal difference of 18 scored with just 7 conceded. This week they are in for a challenge however as the visiting Udinese are quite the pesky side. They are currently on a 6 match unbeaten run and have conceded just 4 goals in 6 road matches in the present campaign. The strong work of Colombian center back Zapata has really fortified their back line.

The two sides come into their Round 12 matches with some injury concerns. Fiorentina right back Dainelli is not 100% and thus is listed as doubtful. If he cannot make the start, Kroldrup will come in to play alongside Ujfalusi. This was the modification that Prandelli employed against Elsborg earlier in the week and it got the job done. Meanwhile, the visitors are without their cultured right side midfielder Mesto who is out for two weeks with an injury. He will be replaced on the flank by Zapotocny.

With the clubs seemingly so evenly matched, and both sporting impressive defensive results to this point it is difficult to see one club having the edge over the other. Fiorentina a surely tough to beat at home but if anyone can match their tenacity on the defensive end it is the Friuli.

Prediction: Draw (0-0)

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