Overview
Fiorentina's run of form has been ended by a series of poor results over the past week, with them being beaten by Bologna in Serie A and drawing with Vitoria in the Europa Conference League.
The disastrous defeat to Bologna left Fiorentina in fourth place, six points behind Atalanta. With fierce competition at the top, coach Raffaele Palladino's team cannot afford to lose points again.
Luckily for Fiorentina, their next match will be against Udinese. Both of Fiorentina's recent defeats came when they played away from home. At home, Fiorentina are still unbeaten with 8 wins and 3 draws.
Fiorentina scored 30 goals when playing at their home stadium Stadio Artemio Franchi. This is the basis for them to believe in a positive result against Udinese.
Udinese have only won 1 of their last 5 Serie A matches. The only team Udinese have been able to beat recently is Monza, who are second to last in the standings.
Besides, Udinese's away form is also quite bad with only 2 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. Before defeating Monza, Udinese had a streak of 5 consecutive away matches without a win, including 4 losses.
At this point, it is really difficult for Udinese to create a surprise against Fiorentina. They can even completely receive a heavy defeat against their opponent.
Udinese beat Fiorentina 4-0 away in 2020. However, Raffaele Palladino's side are unbeaten at home this season, and Udinese have yet to prove themselves against the "big guys".
Human resources situation
Fiorentina duo Biraghi and Bove will be absent due to health issues. In addition, Dodo is suspended, while Pongracic, Sottil and Cataldi are doubtful.
The same is the case with Lovric and Payero on the away team. Meanwhile, Okoye, Oumar Solet, Oier Zarraga, Gerard Deulofeu and Davis are not fit enough to play.
Expected lineup:
Fiorentina: De Gea, Kayode, Comuzzo, Ranieri, Gosens, Richardson, Adli, Colpani, Gudmundsson, Beltran, Kean.
Udinese: Sava, Kristensen, Bijol, Giannetti, Ehizibue, Iker Bravo, Karlstrom, Ekkelenkamp, Zemura, Lucca, Thauvin.
The match between Fiorentina and Udinese takes place at 0:30 am on December 24 (Vietnam time).
