Fiorentina will host Roma on Sunday in the game of the weekend in Italy.
The two teams are first and second in Serie A with just one point separating them. Fiorentina are currently top of Serie A with 18 points, with Roma and Inter joint second with 17 points.
It will also be the clash of two of the three foreign Serie A managers, with Portuguese Paulo Sousa in charge of la Viola having joined the club this summer, while Frenchman Rudi Garcia is in his third season in charge of the Giallorossi.
In 2015 Fiorentina and Roma have played each other four times, once in Serie A, once in the Coppa Italia and twice in the Europa League and Fiorentina are unbeaten against Roma in all four matches, with three Fiorentina’s victories and one draw.
All the attention during the game at the Stadio Artemio Franchi will be on Mohammed Salah. The former Chelsea player joined Fiorentina on loan in January and for six months was unstoppable. However, the Egyptian international this summer controversially decided to not join Fiorentina again and was subsequently bought by Roma. If Salah starts, he surely will have a hell of comeback in Florence.
The only doubt Sousa has is whether or not Marcos Alonso will recover from the injury he picked up in last week’s defeat against Napoli. If he is not ready, however, Sousa will play club captain Manuel Pasqual instead.
Garcia on the other hand has more doubts. Following the spectacular 4-4 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, the defence is once again under scrutiny. Vasilis Torosidis didn’t impress as a right-back and Alessandro Florenzi may be deployed there once again. This should mean that Daniele De Rossi will stay in the midfield trio, with Leandro Castan most likely to play alongside Kostas Manolas, in place of the disappointing Antonio Rudiger.
Up-front Edin Dzeko is fit again and ready to start, with two of Iago Falque, Salah and Gervinho to pair with the Bosnian player.
Form Guide: Fiorentina (W-W-W-L-L) – Roma (W-L-W-W-D)
Expected Starting XIs:
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu, Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Astori, Blaszczykowski, Vecino, Badelj, Alonso, Ilicic, Borja Valero, Kalinic
Roma: Szczesny, Florenzi, Manolas, Castan, Digne, De Rossi, Nainggolan, Pjanic, Iago Falque, Dzeko, Gervinho
Infographic from www.sporticos.com
