Juventus will look to continue their unbeaten start to the new season when they travel to Florence to face struggling Fiorentina in the fifth round of the 2022/23 Serie A season.
Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence)
Key Statistics
Fiorentina have failed to score in their last four competitive games.
The hosts are unbeaten in their last five home games in all competitions (W4, D1).
They are unbeaten in their last three league games against Juventus at home (W1, D2).
Juventus are unbeaten in their last four league games (W2, D2).
They have kept three clean sheets in their last four league games.
The visitors are winless in their last three away league games (D1, L2).
Head to head
Juventus have won six of the last ten meetings between both slides (D3, L1).
Latest performances in all competition
Fiorentina: L-D-D-D-W-W
Juventus: W-D-D-W-L
Fiorentina
After ending the previous season with a seventh-place finish that secured European football for them after a five-season hiatus, Fiorentina were expected to kick on to new heights this season.
However, four games into the new season, I Viola remain with just one win in the league.
They come into this game amid a serious goal-scoring drought that has now stretched up to 419 minutes without a competitive strike after a 1-0 loss to Udinese on Wednesday.
The loss was surprisingly Fiorentina’s first defeat of the season despite their failings in front of goal. Although they have won just five points this season from the 12 available, they’ve managed to post a better four-game start (W1, D2, L1) to their Serie A (SA) season than in two of the previous three years whilst also qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage thanks to a 2-1 aggregate win over FC Twente a fortnight ago.
They will now come into this tie hoping that their first loss of the season against Udinese will give them the launching pad to come back stronger as they attempt to launch themselves up the table again.
But a growing injury list will be a cause of concern for coach Vincenzo Italiano. The Italian will know his men will need to be at their best as they come up against Serie A giants Juventus. However, given that they have fared well against the Old Lady in recent times, remaining unbeaten in the last three home Serie A meetings (W1, D2), they will fancy their chances of holding their own against Max Allegri’s men.
Possible Fiorentina starting line-up
Pierluigi Gollini; Lorenzo Venuti, Igor, Martinez Quarta, Aleksa Terzic; Youssef Malah, Rolando Mandragora, Antonin Barak; Riccardo Saponara, Christian Kouame, Arthur Cabral.
Injured: Nicolas Gonzalez, Alfred Duncan, Gaetano Castroville
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Juventus
Juventus bounced back from their disappointing 1-1 draw with AS Roma last weekend to post a 2-0 win over Spezia in midweek.
The win was their second win of the season and extended their unbeaten start to the season to four games (W2, D2).
But despite getting all three points against Spezia, the Old Lady only posted three shots on goal in the game. Although head coach Maximiliano Allegri stated he prefers his side to be efficient rather than aesthetic, he will be hoping that they can create more chances when they travel to Florence on Saturday.
With neither Milan clubs nor Napoli capitalizing on their dropped points to go ahead in the title race, Juventus will feel that they still have the opportunity to go top at the slightest slip-up from AS Roma currently sits top of the table.
And so they will come into this tie looking to take home maximum points to give themselves the chance to climb the table should Jose Mourinho’s side or second-placed Inter Milan who are in action against AC Milan fail to win this weekend.
Possible Juventus starting line-up
Wojciech Szczesny; Mattia De Sciglio, Federico Gatti, Bremer, Danilo; Fabio Meretti, Manuel Locatelli, Adrien Rabiot; Juan Cuadrado, Dusan Vlahovic, Moise Kean.
Injured: Marley Ake, Paul Pogba, Federico Chiesa, Kaio Jorge, Daouda Peeters
Doubtful: Leonardo Bonucci, Wojciech Szczesny
Suspended: None
Prediction
Fiorentina 1-2 Juventus
