An exciting encounter between relegation-battling Spezia and top-half Fiorentina at the Stadio Alberto Picco will serve to close Serie A Matchday 25 out. Inspired by a stunning win over Atalanta in midweek Coppa Italia action, La Viola will be looking to come back to winning ways in Italy’s top-flight.
Fiorentina’s first league match following Dusan Vlahovic’s blockbuster switch to Juventus yielded an underwhelming 3-0 defeat at the hands of Lazio. However, Vincenzo Italiano’s men put their character and team spirit on full display on Thursday, coming from behind to seal a 3-2 win in Bergamo and crash Atalanta out of the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
Going into this matchday, Fiorentina sit six points adrift of the coveted European spots, albeit they boast two games in hand on sixth-placed Lazio. But to bridge that gap, the visitors will have to defy their abysmal away form of late, with no victory from their last three Serie A road trips (D2, L1).
Meanwhile, Spezia have been nothing short of outstanding of late, as they seem to be on the verge of turning their disappointing Serie A season around. A ‘goal-friendly’ 2-2 draw with fellow relegation rivals Salernitana last time out brought the home side’s three-game winning league streak to a halt, though.
After building a four-point lead on 18th-placed Cagliari, Spezia will be brimming with confidence as they have a piece of history open for the taking here. Avoiding defeat against Fiorentina would see the Bianchi go unbeaten in five consecutive Serie A matches for the first time in the club’s top-flight history.
However, that could be easier said than done. Spezia have suffered back-to-back Serie A reverses to La Viola by an identical 3-0 scoreline. There is a silver lining for Thiago Motta’s team, though. Their only previous top-flight meeting with Fiorentina at the Stadio Alberto Picco featured a 2-2 draw, with Spezia coming from a 2-0 deficit to grab a point.
Spezia vs Fiorentina Prediction
Three of Spezia’s last four Serie A home games have seen both teams on the scoresheet, with two of them producing 3+ overall goals. Likewise, four of Fiorentina’s last five away league fixtures have witnessed both sides scoring, with three of them featuring over 2.5 total goals.
Adding to the high-scoring hypothesis, each of their three overall Serie A H2Hs has contained at least three goals. Therefore, expecting this showdown to produce end-to-end action and plenty of excitement, coupled with a few goals, would be an educated guess.