Saturday’s Serie A action gets underway at the Stadio Artemio Franchi as Fiorentina and Juventus go head-to-head in a tasty-looking fixture. Both sides have blown hot and cold early in the 2022/23 season and will have a point to prove come Saturday afternoon.
Following a late 3-2 home win over newly-promoted Cremonese on the opening weekend, Fiorentina have switched off. Coming into this showdown, Vincenzo Italianos’ men have gone 419 minutes without scoring across all competitions. Therefore, they can be happy that their first defeat of the 2022/23 campaign came in midweek, courtesy of a 1-0 downing at Udinese.
On the other hand, Dusan Vlahovic continues to defy every expectation in Serie A. After slotting home a superb free-kick in his side’s 1-1 draw against Roma, the former Fiorentina man set the pulse for the Bianconeri’s 2-0 home win over Spezia last time out with another sensational goal from the set-piece. However, Juventus have yet to impress this term despite reaching this round undefeated in all four league games (W2, D2).
Juventus let go of Arthur Melo and Denis Zakaria on the final day of the summer transfer window. While the former joined Liverpool, the latter teamed up with Chelsea, with the club disclosing terms for the two late summer departures.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina have kept hold of all key players and added some exciting pieces to Italiano’s jigsaw. From Luka Jovic to Antonin Barak, La Viola have assembled a decent group of players that should help them survive battles on multiple fronts this season.
Match Preview
Fiorentina
A 2-1 aggregate win over Twente in the Europa Conference League play-offs catapulted Fiorentina into European competition proper for the first time since the 2016/17 Europa League season. However, since defeating the Dutch side 2-1 in the first leg at Franchi, Italiano’s men have failed to score in four consecutive outings across all competitions.
Fiorentina will be out to break their frustrating goalscoring drought and potentially register back-to-back Serie A wins over Juventus for the first time since 1998. Inspired by Alfred Duncan and Nicolas Gonzalez, La Viola thumped Juve 2-0 in this corresponding fixture last season, making it two wins from four top-flight H2Hs (D1, L1).
Not since November 2020 had Fiorentina fired scoring blanks in four consecutive Serie A fixtures. Additionally, they haven’t drawn a blank in successive home league outings since May 2019. Therefore, it’s fair to assume they will fight tooth and nail to find a way out of this excruciating goalscoring crisis.
Juventus
Juventus will take the field searching for their first Serie A win at Franchi since December 2018. They have since gone winless in three league visits to Fiorentina on the trot (D2, L1) and could make it four in succession for the first time in the 21st century. So much about Massimiliano Allegri’s motivational speech in the locker room.
There’s plenty of reason for concern in the visiting camp. Juventus have failed to get on the scoresheet in both previous Serie A road trips. Another scoring blank in Tuscany would see them go three consecutive away league matches without finding the net for the first time since 1998. But maybe Vlahovic has other plans.
The Serbia international has bagged four goals in Serie A this season, including back-to-back free-kick strikes. Yet, a lack of service from the midfield threatens to undermine Vlahovic’s bid to win his first-ever Capocannoniere award after falling short of Lazio’s Ciro Immobile last term.
Team News
Gaetano Castrovilli is still out with a knee injury, with Fiorentina still sweating over the availability of Duncan, Gonzalez, and Szymon Zurkowski.
As for Juventus, Leonardo Bonucci, Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa, and Kaio Jorge are still in the treatment room. First-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is unlikely to return between the sticks after a first-half injury forced him off against Spezia.
Fiorentina vs Juventus Potential Line-ups
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Pietro Terracciano; Lorenzo Venuti, Nikola Milenkovic, Lucas Martinez Quarta, Cristiano Biraghi; Sofyan Amrabat, Rolando Mandragora, Marco Benassi; Christian Kouame, Luka Jovic, Jonathan Ikone.
Juventus (4-3-3): Mattia Perin; Mattia De Sciglio, Federico Gatti, Gleison Bremer, Alex Sandro; Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot; Angel Di Maria, Dusan Vlahovic, Filip Kostic.