Fiorentina travel to the Stadio Renzo Barbera on Sunday to play Palermo, hoping to secure automatic qualification for the Europa League after again missing out on the Champions League places.
After starting the season brightly, the Rosanero have struggled of late and it is no coincidence it can be attributed to Paulo Dybala’s variable form and his reported imminent departure from the Sicilian outfit.
However, Giuseppe Iachini’s side did manager a narrow 1-0 victory to end its four game winless streak in their previous outing against the already relegated Cagliari. The result lifts the Aquile into 10th position in the Serie A standings with two matches remaining.
Meanwhile, La Viola’s form has also waned considerably in recent months with Vincenzo Montella’s men claiming just four league wins since the beginning of April.
The side bounced back with a resounding 3-0 win over cellar-dwellers Parma, after crashing out of the Europa League semi-final at the expense of Spaniards Sevilla.
Fiorentina have collected 58 points and lie fifth, trailing fourth place Napoli by five points and can only match last season’s finish of fourth if they win their next two matches with the hope the Blues lose both.
In the corresponding fixture La Viola edged Palermo in a 4-3 thriller back in January, where Montella’s team boasted four different goal scorers.
Indeed, that result maintained its four match undefeated run over the Rosanero, with Fiorentina now winning its preceding three consecutive games over their opponents. The pair have met on 21 occasions with both teams sharing nine triumphs, but the hosts have not won since November 2011.
For the match, Palermo boss Giuseppe Iachini almost has a full squad to choose from, however the tactician will have to do without Michel Morganella and Francesco Bolzoni for the rest of the campaign.
Forward Simon Makienok will have his fitness evaluated and could feature from the bench. Paulo Dybala continues to be kept in ‘cotton-wool’ as the Sicilians do not want to risk its prized asset sustaining an injury before an impending transfer to Juventus.
As for Fiorentina, four players including Mario Gomez and Borja Velero are one game off from receiving a one-match ban for a fourth yellow card. Giuseppe Rossi, Khouma Babacar and Micah Richards are out for the season, due to injury.
Form Guide: Palermo (W-L-D-D-L-W) Fiorentina (L-L-L-W-W-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Palermo: Sorrentino; Quaison, Vitiello, G. Gonzalez, Andelkovic, Lazaar; Barreto, Jajalo, Rigoni; Belotti, Vazquez
Fiorentina: Neto; Tomovic, Savic, Rodriguez, Pasqual; Borja Valero, Badelj, Aquilani; Salah, Gomez, Ilicic
