Serie A Betting Preview: Fiorentina vs Sassuolo

January 6, 2024

Winless in their last six home games in Serie A (losing four of them), Sassuolo will be desperate to get back on track when they take on top-four hopefuls Fiorentina at the Mapei Stadium on Saturday evening.

Fiorentina claimed their first Serie A double over Sassuolo last season, with the Viola ending their five game winless run against The Neroverdi.

Vincenco Italiano's side won the last Serie A match between the sides, coming out on top 3-1 at the Mapei Stadium on the final day of last season.

Sassuolo Betting Preview (+210 at MyBookie)

From the heights of defeating both Juventus (4-2) and Inter Milan (2-1) in the late days of September, The Neroverdi continued a steady plummet towards the Serie A bottom three.

They are winless in their last six games across all competitions, losing five. Thus, pressure on head coach Alessio Dionisi is growing after Sassuolo were able to only beat fellow strugglers Empoli (a last-gasp 4-3 victory) across their last 12 top-flight matches (losing seven of them).

Sassuolo sits 16^th in Serie A with just 16 points. After conceding a 1-0 loss at the hands of AC Milan last weekend, Alessio Dionisi's side are just two points above the drop zone.

Meanwhile, Sassuolo already played their first match in 2024 as they lost 3-1 at Atalanta in the Coppa Italia last-16 on Wednesday night.

Alessio Dionisi is expected to make wholesale changes to the side that started at Atalanta in midweek.

Andrea Consigli should return in goal for Sassuolo as backup goalkeeper Alessio Cragno started in Bergamo on Wednesday evening.

Matías Vina, Uros Racic, Pedro Obiang and Grégoire Defrel remain sidelined for Sassuolo, while Martin Erlic, Matheus Henrique and Domenico Berardi are all doubts.

The current opponents - Fiorentina - are one of Domenico Berardi's favorite victims. The Italian forward boasts 10 goals and six assists in 17 Serie A matches against the Viola, as he also scored in either of Sassuolo's defeats against them last season.

With nine goals and three assists in 14 Serie A appearances this term, Berardi is once again Sassuolo's standout performer but he remained an unused substitute at Atalanta in midweek.

In the meantime, summer signing Daniel Boloca returned to action as the Romanian midfielder was introduced as a second-half substitute to score his second goal for Sassuolo. Yet. Boloca's stoppage-time strike was nothing more than a consolation goal for Sassuolo.

Fiorentina Betting Preview (+120 at MyBookie)

The Viola travel to Reggio Emilia this weekend as they look to compete on multiple fronts.

Not since going on to finish fifth in 2015-16 had the Florence outfit picked up so many points in their opening 18 Serie A games, considerably raising hopes of a return to either of UEFA’s prime competitions for the first time since 2016-17.

With that said, Fiorentina are looking to play Champions League football for the first time since 2009-10, when they went on to reach the last-16 where they lost on away goals to Bayern Munich.

Fiorentina finished fourth in the Serie A for three consecutive years between 2013 and 2015, but that happened in a period when only the top three Italian teams qualified for the Champions League.

The Viola remain fourth in Serie A following Bologna's surprise 1-1 home draw with Genoa on Friday night. The former Fiorentina man Lorenzo De Silvestri scored a late equalizer to rescue a point for Bologna, who remained fifth in the table, one point behind their rivals.

Vincenco Italiano's side are fourth in the Serie A table on 33 points and will look to build on their record, given the fact that Roma (7^th) and Atalanta (6^th) face off on Sunday evening.

Fiorentina will take on bitter rivals Bologna at Stadio Artemio Franchi in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals on Tuesday, but first they need to consolidate their top-four credentials.

Having reached the UEFA Europa Conference League final last season, where they lost 2-1 to West Ham United, Fiorentina are once again one of the favorites in the competition this term. The Viola will resume their European campaign in March and they can fully focus on their domestic competitions.

Fiorentina are set for back-to-back home matches against Udinese and league leaders Inter Milan later this month, with a Super Cup campaign sandwiched between them.

They join the likes of Inter Milan, Lazio and Napoli in this new Final Four format of the Supercoppa Italiana that is set to take place in Saudi Arabia this month. If they manage to beat Scudetto holders Napoli in the Supercoppa Italiana semi-finals, Fiorentina will face either Inter Milan or Lazio in the final at the KSU Stadium four days later (22 January).

Vincenco Italiano's side are on the eve of the Derby dell'Appennino against Bologna but the Fiorentina boss won’t hesitate to field his strongest lineup looking to extend their fine form.

Lucas Beltran joined Fiorentina in August and the 22-year-old Argentina forward failed to score in his first 11 Serie A appearances for the club. However, Beltran scored three goals in his last four games (all in December) and should lead the line against Sassuolo. His goals were key for the 1-0 wins against Hellas Verona and Monza last month.

Ghanaian midfielder Alfred Duncan was not called up for the Africa Cup of Nations, unlike winger Christian Kouamé, who will join the Ivory Coast squad.

Elsewhere, Brazilian right-back Dodo as well as the likes of Gaetano Castrovilli, Nicolás González and Riccardo Sottil are all injured for Fiorentina.

With Riccardo Sottil sidelined and Ikone traveling to Africa, Josip Brekalo could start on the left wing.

Possible Starting Lineups of Sassuolo and Fiorentina

Sassuolo: Andrea Consigli - Jeremy Toljan, Martin Erlic, Gian Marco Ferrari, Marcus Pedersen - Kristian Thorstvedt, Matheus Henrique - Domenico Berardi, Nedim Bajrami, Armand Lauriente - Andrea Pinamonti. (4-2-3-1)

Fiorentina: Pietro Terracciano - Michael Kayode, Nikola Milenkovic, Luca Ranieri, Cristiano Biraghi - Arthur Melo, Alfred Duncan - Jonathan Ikone, Giacomo Bonaventura, Josip Brekalo - Lucas Beltran. (4-2-3-1)

Spooky Express Betting Prediction

Fiorentina will be keen to win three consecutive matches against Sassuolo for the first time since the Neroverdi’s promotion in 2013.

As potent as Sassuolo can be in attack, especially with Berardi on the pitch, they’re equally poor at the back, having conceded 33 goals, which is the second worst record in Serie A.

Vincenco Italiano's side are aiming to extend an eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions this weekend and we're backing them to take three points off Sassuolo on Saturday night.

Their winning strategy should be built on the back of their current momentum and strong defensive performances - three consecutive clean sheets, with just one goal conceded in their last five Serie A games.

Spooky Express Free Play: Fiorentina +120 at MyBookie for 5/10 Units

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