Fiorentina v Tottenham Hotspur – Europa League Preview: On a knife-edge
With a Capital One Cup Final on the horizon for the London club, it will be an interesting tactical battle between the two coaches with that clearly on Mauricio Pochettino’s mind, while Vincenzo Montella has successively tinkered with his side during the competition.
The match at White Hart Lane was the very first competitive fixture between the pair after friendlies defeats for Fiorentina in 2001 and 2010, but despite falling behind to a sixth minute Roberto Soldado goal recovered well and deservedly equalised through Jose Basanta 30 minutes later.
Performing admirably in the second period of that match, Montella’s side now bring a vital away goal back to Florence where they are unbeaten against English opposition, in fact they have only ever lost twice at home, first to Manchester United in 2000, then to Everton eight years later.
The most any Premier League club have ever walked away from the Franchi with was the point secured by Arsenal after a goalless draw in 1999 and a repeat of that result would see the Italians through.
Despite dropping points against Torino on Sunday, the Viola are certainly in better form that the North Londoners and are unbeaten in all competitions since January 6, which has helped propel them into fourth place in Serie A, as well as into the Coppa Italia semi-final.
In contrast, while the form of striker Harry Kane – particularly the late winner against bitter rivals Arsenal – has received plenty of media attention, it has deflected away from the fact that the visitors have struggled at times this term.
At the weekend, they only just managed to recover from a two-goal deficit at home to salvage a point against West Ham United, while a below par performance at Liverpool before that virtually handed their hosts the win.
Facing Chelsea in the Cup Final on Sunday, the decision to involve Kane and the influential Christian Eriksen from the start could be key to their chances against Fiorentina, with Pochettino picking a strong side a week ago despite replacing the young striker with Soldado.
Montella on the other hand will be expected to make several changes as he has done throughout their European campaign, with Englishman Micah Richards potentially getting a rare start. La Viola will have to do without Borja Valero and Ciprian Tatarusanu as the pair picked up injuries in training.
Form Guide: Fiorentina (W-W-W-D-D) Tottenham (W-W-L-D-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Fiorentina: Neto; Richards, Savic, Rodriguez, Pasqual; Fernandez, Badelj, Aquilani; Diamanti, Babacar, Salah
Tottenham: Lloris; Walker, Fazio, Vertonghen, Davies; Paulinho, Bentaleb; Townsend, Eriksen, Chadli; Soldado