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Fiorentina logo
Serie A | Gameweek 13
Dec 19, 2020 at 2pm UK
Stadio Artemio Franchi
Hellas Verona logo

Fiorentina
1 - 1
Hellas Verona

Vlahovic (19' pen.)
Bonaventura (14'), Julio (69'), Prandelli (75')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Veloso (8' pen.)
Dimarco (27'), Juric (32'), Ceccherini (34')

Preview: Fiorentina vs. Hellas Verona - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Serie A clash between Fiorentina and Hellas Verona, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

After an encouraging midweek draw, faltering Fiorentina look to claim a first league win since late October as they welcome Hellas Verona to Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday.

The visitors' excellent run of form in Serie A came to an end in midweek, with the Gialloblu losing 2-1 at home to Sampdoria.


Match preview

Franck Ribery in action for Fiorentina in September 2020© Reuters

A courageous 1-1 home draw against high-flying Sassuolo on Wednesday seems to have stemmed criticism of returning head coach Cesare Prandelli and his players - who had been sent to a training camp after a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Atalanta.

The upwardly-mobile Neroverdi, in fifth place in the standings, were perhaps surprised by the tenacity of a Fiorentina team which even came within a whisker of claiming all three points when Franck Ribery had a late shot tipped onto the bar.

In perhaps an act of desperation more than anything, Prandelli had shuffled his deck substantially, picking a 3-5-2 featuring Lorenzo Venuti at wing-back and Giacomo Bonaventura in midfield. Given the sharp uplift in performance, it is likely he will persist with the new look for the tough trials ahead.

Despite picking up a long-awaited point, Fiorentina are just three points above the relegation zone and the Viola must follow Verona's visit with a trip to Turin for a daunting encounter with Juventus just before the brief winter break.

Hellas Verona coach Ivan Juric reacts on November 22, 2020© Reuters

Much of the aftermath of Verona's unexpected loss at Stadio Bentegodi - in which Samp stung them twice on the counter-attack - was dominated by an outburst from highly-rated coach Ivan Juric, who has often criticised the club's transfer policy.

Though Hellas are flying high, their Croatian coach has been angered by the sale of key players such as Marash Kumbulla and Amir Rrahmani and a perceived lack of investment by the board, stating: "They have a different vision to me."

Currently in seventh place in Serie A with 19 points, the Gialloblu have not always demonstrated the typical grit and cohesion that has characterised two successful seasons under Juric but have continued to pick up points against the odds.

From their previous four away matches, Verona have accumulated an impressive eight points from a possible 12 against four of last season's top-six clubs – Juventus, AC Milan, Atalanta and most recently Lazio.

Not only that, but despite their midweek slip-up and the manager's griping, they have lost only three of their 12 league games so far – which, until Wednesday, was the club's best start to a top-flight campaign since their Scudetto win of 1984-85.

Therefore, their journey to the Tuscan capital will hold few fears for Juric's side and provides a presentable opportunity to get back on track ahead of Inter Milan's visit to Verona next week.

Fiorentina Serie A form: DLLDLD
Fiorentina form (all competitions): LWLDLD

Hellas Verona Serie A form: DLWDWL
Hellas Verona form (all competitions): LLWDWL


Team News

Cesare Prandelli, now in charge of Fiorentina, pictured in April 2019© Reuters

Cesare Prandelli was aided by the return of Martin Caceres, Cristiano Biraghi and Erick Pulgar against Sassuolo, so Fiorentina should be at full strength for the visit of Verona.

The former Azzurri boss is expected to retain Wednesday's 3-5-2, with Gaetano Castrovilli being joined by Giacomo Bonaventura and ex-Verona midfielder Sofyan Amrabat in the midfield three.

In addition to the absences of Marco Benassi, summer signing Nikola Kalinic, Mert Cetin and former Leeds United midfielder Ronaldo Vieira, Verona's Ivan Juric will also have to do without the suspended Antonin Barak, who was sent off against Sampdoria.

In their usual 3-4-2-1 setup, the Gialloblu are likely to stick with Samuel Di Carmine as the lone striker, with Andrea Favilli an option on the bench.

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Dragowski; Milenkovic, Pezzella, Caceres; Lirola, Bonaventura, Amrabat, Castrovilli, Biraghi; Vlahovic, Ribery

Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Faraoni, Dawidowicz, Ceccherini; Lazovic, Tameze, Veloso, Dimarco; Salcedo, Zaccagni; Di Carmine


SM words green background

We say: Fiorentina 1-1 Hellas Verona

With an upcoming visit to the champions set to close out their calendar year commitments, Fiorentina could certainly do with a home win on Saturday.

Their struggles in front of goal can be exploited by a well-drilled Verona side though, as I Gialloblu can take home a point to keep themselves among the top-half challengers going into 2020.


Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data


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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Fiorentina win with a probability of 53.97%. A draw had a probability of 23.5% and a win for Hellas Verona had a probability of 22.48%.

The most likely scoreline for a Fiorentina win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.78%) and 2-0 (9.37%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.16%), while for a Hellas Verona win it was 0-1 (6.38%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood.


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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Inter Milan29244171145776
2AC Milan29195555332262
3Juventus29178444232159
4Bologna29159542251754
5Roma29156855352051
6Atalanta BCAtalanta28145951321947
7Napoli29129844331145
8Fiorentina2812794132943
9Lazio29134123633343
10Monza2911993236-442
11Torino29101182826241
12Genoa29810113136-534
13Lecce29610132645-1928
14Udinese29415102844-1627
15Hellas VeronaHellas Verona2968152639-1326
16CagliariCagliari2968152950-2126
17Empoli2967162243-2125
18FrosinoneFrosinone2966173760-2324
19SassuoloSassuolo2965183356-2323
20Salernitana2928192359-3614


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