Fiorentina-Juventus betting preview
This is the fourth time these two teams are playing against each other in this season: two matches in the Serie A and the first leg of the Europa League pre-quarter final. Fiorentina won the first match, while Juventus bagged the second one. The first leg of the Europa match at ended in a 1-1 draw. Now it has returned to where it started – at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Fiorentina. This is a gilt-edged opportunity for the Voila to kick out the Old Lady from a top competition.
On current form, Juve appears uncatchable. The 4-2 loss against Fiorentina remains their only defeat in the season. Since then, the team is on an unbeaten run of 20 matches. Fiorentina has been finding life much tougher. Injury to their star striker Giuseppe Rossi has thrown their campaign off the rails. The odds are against the Voila for this match.
While the teams’ H2H record of this season looks even, Juventus is light years away in the overall H2H statistics. In the last 30 matches against Juve, Fiorentina has won just three matches. Juventus will start as favourites, even though the Voila does hold the away goal advantage.
Mario Gomez is back from injury. He scored the equaliser against Juve in the first leg. If he can take the place of the injured Rossi, who scored a hat-trick in the 4-2 demolition, Fiorentina will be through to the quarterfinals.
Carlos Tevez is expected to play this match on his comeback from a minor injury. Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo, who scored a sensational 89th-minute free kick against Genoa last weekend, are the other threats to the Fiorentina defence.
It is hard to see a Juventus defeat. They have been performing consistently well. The Voila is too volatile. If it is going to be their day, they could still sneak into the quarterfinals, especially given the away goal advantage they possess.