On Monday 13th May, during the 36th round of the Italian Serie A, Fiorentina will host Monza. The teams are separated by five points in the league table, but the "Viola" still have an excellent chance of progressing to the European competitions either through the national championship or through a triumph in the Conference League.
The match will take place in Florence at the Artemio Franchi Stadium.
Fiorentina continues to fight for a spot in the European zone, currently occupying the 9th position in the Serie A table with one game in hand and trailing Napoli by only one point. Last weekend, the Tuscan team failed, losing 2:1 to Verona, this way ending their three-match unbeaten run which had included two wins over Salernitana (0:2) and Sassuolo (5:1). This week, the Florentine team managed a draw with Club Brugge (1:1) thanks to a penalty goal by Lucas Beltran, which was enough for them to reach the Conference League final for the second year in a row (victory in the first match - 3:2).
After two seasons as head coach, Vincenzo Italiano will leave the team in the summer and following their recent elimination from the country's cup competition, his last chance to claim a trophy will come in the Greek capital against Olympiakos. Important to note, Fiorentina is ranked seventh overall in terms of home points accumulated (31 from 17 games, 33 goals for and 19 against).
Monza sits in 11th place in the Serie A standings and is finishing the season without any stress or objectives. The team has not won in their last 6 matches, drawing three times and suffering 3 defeats. Having lost at home to Atalanta (1:2), Monza then shared points with Lecce (1:1) and Lazio last weekend (2:2), where Djuric's late goal saved the Rossoneri from defeat.
No team picked up fewer points over this period than Raffaele Palladino's side, which included already-relegated Salernitana and crisis-stricken Frosinone. On the plus side, Monza has performed rather well on the road, picking up 21 points from 17 fixtures (the ninth-best tally in the division), scoring 15 goals and conceding 21. It may also worry fans that their team has only managed one clean sheet in their last six games.
The first-round fixture between these teams ended with Fiorentina winning 1:0 away at Monza. However, the Biancorossi haven't lost a single match to the Viola in their two previous meets.
Fiorentina has been performing exceptionally well at home, and the depth of their squad allows Vincenzo Italiano to rotate without affecting the high performance. Monza, having nothing much at stake for the remainder of the tournament, is simply enjoying the games, which has had a visible impact on results: they have not won a single match since the end of March. My prediction - a home triumph for the Viola.
Fiorentina has consistently been scoring two goals per game at home this season, while the visitors have conceded 9 goals in their last five matches. Thus, ITO 1.5 for the home team seems a safe bet.
Fiorentina, driven by the pursuit of a European place and backed by their home fans, should triumph in terms of corners with a -1.5 handicap.
Both teams average more than two yellow cards per game this season, for this reason, my bet is on TU 3.5 for the overall number of bookings.
I predict a 2:1 win for Fiorentina.
# | 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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