On Monday, 15 April, as part of the 32nd round of the Italian Serie A, Fiorentina will host Genoa on their home ground. Last week, the "Violets" parted ways amicably with Viktoria Plzen in the first quarter-final match of the Conference League, while the guests no longer have tournament motivation and are playing out the season for their pleasure.
Fiorentina is currently ranked 10th in the Serie A tournament table, trailing the European Cup zone by 7 points, with one game in hand. In recent weeks, the Tuscans have been in a slump, having won only one of the last 7 championship matches, with three defeats. Vincenzo Italiano's charges lost to Milan (1:2) and Juventus (1:0) last weekend, but they won their first semi-final match at Atalanta (1:0) in the Italian Cup, thanks to a single goal from Mandragora. It's worth noting that in 2024, only Frosinone and Salernitana achieved fewer victories in Serie A than the white-purple. The "violets" do not perform very successfully in front of their home crowd, having gained 27 points in 15 home matches (the eighth best score in the division) with 27 goals scored and 17 conceded.
Last Thursday, in the Europa League, Fiorentina drew 0:0 with Viktoria Plzen, and soon the team has an upcoming return match at home. On the positive side, the team can count on an optimal squad on Monday, as there are no injuries or disqualifications. Andrea Belotti (1 goal in 9 matches) hasn't been particularly successful since his transfer in January, but he regularly starts at the spearhead of the attack; Argentinians Nico González (7 goals and 2 assists) and Beltrán (6 goals and 2 assists) will support him on the flanks. Luca Ranieri, Michael Koyode and Christian Kouamé hope to get playing time due to rotation, while captain Cristiano Biraghi continues to cement the right eyebrow of the defence.
Returning to the top division last summer, Genoa is doing everything possible to maintain its Serie A status. At the moment, Alberto Gilardino's team is 12th in the standings, 12 points from the relegation zone. Perhaps the lack of motivation as such is the reason for the disappointing results of the "griffins" in recent weeks: the red and blues won only 2 of their last 9 games with three defeats. Last weekend they won a 1:2 victory over the crisis-ridden Verona, thanks to goals by Ekuban and Alberto Gudmundsson, before drawing with Frosinone and Juventus. They have also not suffered any defeats in seven out of eight previous away matches, and the Ligurians are eager to win their second consecutive match on the road in Serie A for the first time in three years.
It's worth noting that the "Griffins" are not particularly successful on the road: they have scored only 14 goals in 16 matches on foreign territory, conceding 18. Genoa has lost Malinovsky and Vitinho, Chittadini and young Uruguayan defender Maturro (19 years old) due to injuries. Good news is the return of Italian Reteg (6 goals) after suspension. Last weekend, in his absence, the guests were led by Ekuban (3 goals) and Icelandic Gudmundsson (12 goals and 3 assists), and both have good chances to start again this time. By the way, Genoa's team coach, Alberto Gilardino, scored 48 goals for Fiorentina in his time, and his return to Artemio Franchi will not go unnoticed by the local public.
In the last 16 championship matches in the Tuscan capital, Genoa has suffered nine defeats and seven draws, while the first round match ended in an away victory for the white and purple with a score of 1:4.
Although Genoa's recent results have not delighted fans, the "griffins" had more time to recover, while Fiorentina is focused on the upcoming quarterfinal return fixture in the Conference League against Viktoria. The Genoese have been showing good away shape during the current campaign and have not been beaten for three straight rounds – I would take the risk and put my money on the underdog with a handicap of 1.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Inter | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8:2 | 7 | |
2 | Juventus | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6:0 | 7 | |
3 | Torino | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5:3 | 7 | |
4 | Udinese | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:2 | 7 | |
5 | Verona | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5:3 | 6 | |
6 | Napoli | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:4 | 6 | |
7 | Empoli | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3:2 | 5 | |
8 | Lazio | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6:5 | 4 | |
9 | Parma | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4:4 | 4 | |
10 | Genoa | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 3:4 | 4 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
12 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 5:6 | 3 | |
13 | Lecce | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 1:6 | 3 | |
14 | AC Milan | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 5:6 | 2 | |
15 | Monza | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 2:3 | 2 | |
16 | AS Roma | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
17 | Cagliari | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 1:2 | 2 | |
18 | Bologna | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2:5 | 2 | |
19 | Venezia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 1:4 | 1 | |
20 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1:5 | 1 | |
1 | Inter | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6:0 | 6 | |
2 | Udinese | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:1 | 6 | |
3 | Napoli | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:1 | 6 | |
4 | Juventus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 4 | |
5 | Lazio | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5:3 | 4 | |
6 | Parma | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
7 | Torino | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:1 | 3 | |
8 | Verona | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:3 | 3 | |
9 | Lecce | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:4 | 3 | |
10 | Fiorentina | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
11 | Cagliari | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 2 | |
12 | Bologna | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
13 | Empoli | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 1 | |
14 | Genoa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2:4 | 1 | |
15 | AC Milan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
16 | Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
17 | Monza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
18 | AS Roma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
19 | Venezia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Como | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 0 | |
1 | Torino | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
2 | Empoli | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3:2 | 4 | |
3 | Juventus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:0 | 3 | |
4 | Verona | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:0 | 3 | |
5 | Genoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1:0 | 3 | |
6 | Atalanta | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 3 | |
7 | Monza | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 2 | |
8 | AS Roma | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0:0 | 2 | |
9 | Inter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2:2 | 1 | |
10 | Udinese | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
11 | Fiorentina | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1:1 | 1 | |
12 | AC Milan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3:4 | 1 | |
13 | Venezia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1:3 | 1 | |
14 | Como | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1:5 | 1 | |
15 | Napoli | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 | |
16 | Lazio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
17 | Parma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1:2 | 0 | |
18 | Lecce | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:2 | 0 | |
19 | Cagliari | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:1 | 0 | |
20 | Bologna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0:3 | 0 |
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