Hellas Verona will host Fiorentina on Wednesday in Serie A, with both teams looking to get back to winning ways.
Fiorentina are second in Serie A with 18 points, but have lost three games in a row, to Napoli, Roma and Lech Poznan in the Europa League.
Verona, meanwhile, are bottom of the table with just five points and have to react after the humilating 4-1 loss to Sampdoria at the weekend.
Last season’s fixtures saw the Viola snatc the victory thanks to a Khouma Babacar late header, with Verona taking revenge with a 1-0 victory at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in the return game, dealing a huge blow to Fiorentina’s ambitions of finishing in the top three.
Andrea Mandorlini’s side are in desperate need for points but will take on Fiorentina without ex Viola forward Luca Toni, who is still sidelined with a serious injury. In his place will be another former Fiorentina man Giampaolo Pazzini.
Mandorlini does not have too many doubts, with a change to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation on the cards. Verna should name a similar side that lost to Sampdoria, with the only change being Bosko Jankovic in the attacking trio replacing defender Filip Helander.
The only players Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa will not be able to count on are Brazilian right winger Gilberto and Marko Bakic. The Portuguese coach is likely to name a similar side which lost to Roma at the weekend but will have to pick between Federico Bernardeschi and Josip Ilicic to play behind forward Nikola Kalinic.
Form Guide: Hellas Verona (L-L-D-D-L) – Fiorentina (W-W-L-L-L)
Expected Starting XIs:
Hellas Verona: Rafael, Pisano, Marquez, Moras, Souprayen, Sala, Greco, Halfredsson, Jankovic, Pazzini, Gomez.
Fiorentina: Tatarusanu, Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Astori, Blaszczykowski, Vecino, Badelj, Alonso, Ilicic, Borja Valero, Kalinic
Infographic from www.sporticos.com
