After six games without a win in Serie A, Fiorentina attempt to arrest their slide down the standings on Monday, when they visit relegation-threatened Hellas Verona.
Now only eight points clear of their 18th-placed hosts, the Viola have at least tasted success in cup competitions of late, but should they lose at Stadio Bentegodi, Vincenzo Italiano's men could find themselves in danger.
Match preview
Having relied on Arthur Cabral's late equaliser to snatch a draw in last week's Tuscan derby with Empoli, 2023 has featured just one league win for Fiorentina, whose recent run comprises two points from six Serie A matches.
After losing a fourth league game in five to Juventus any lingering hopes of a late push for European qualification had all but vanished, but the Viola may now be glancing nervously over their shoulders towards the bottom three, where Monday's hosts reside.
Indeed, Fiorentina's season may be defined by knockout football in the weeks ahead, as after eliminating Torino in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals earlier this month a two-legged semi against lowly Cremonese awaits in April; they also progressed through the Europa Conference League playoffs in midweek.
With his side leading 4-0 from the first leg in Portugal, former Verona midfielder Vincenzo Italiano saw them go two down at Stadio Franchi on Thursday evening, but they fought back to win 3-2 on the night, with Giacomo Bonaventura laying on each goal - including another late winner from Cabral.
Into the last 16 in continental competition and favourites to meet either Juventus or Inter in the domestic cup final, Fiorentina now seek to translate such form to Serie A, at a venue where they have won on six of their last eight visits.
Back in September, they were also 2-0 winners in the reverse fixture, but early-season optimism has since given way to furrowed brows as Hellas continue to haul them in.
While their visitors sit bottom of the form table for the past couple of months, Verona are one of four Serie A sides still unbeaten at home in 2023. In fact, since the start of the year, only Roma and Inter have earned more points on home soil throughout the Italian top flight.
As a result of the Scaligeri's dramatic switch of fortunes, they have closed the gap between themselves and safety to two points since Marco Zaffaroni took charge during the winter break, and Fiorentina are one of several clubs now in their sights.
A home victory in their last Monday fixture, over fellow strugglers Salernitana, continued their pursuit of Serie A safety, and despite suffering an increasingly rare setback last time out at Roma - where they were beaten by a single goal - Verona are now contenders to avoid the drop after appearing doomed as recently as last month.
A long road waits ahead, though, as this is only the fourth time that the Gialloblu have accrued 17 points or fewer after 23 rounds since the switch to three points for a win in the mid-1990s; in each of those three previous seasons they were ultimately relegated.
Even accounting for their recent rally, Hellas have managed just over half their points total at this stage last term, and a lack of penalty-box prowess lies behind such decline: while Fiorentina may have the third-worst shot conversion rate in Serie A this season, only Cadiz, Schalke and Cremonese have a lower shooting accuracy than Verona (37%) across Europe's top five leagues.
Team News
Though his team were beaten last time out, Marco Zaffaroni is expected to keep changes to a minimum on Monday, when forwards Milan Djuric (muscular) and Thomas Henry (ACL) again join midfield duo Miguel Veloso and Ibrahim Sulemana on the sidelines due to injury.
In the ongoing absence of Djuric up front, either Kevin Lasagna or January signing Adolfo Gaich should lead the line for Verona, while Marco Faraoni recently returned to full fitness and may now displace Fabio Depaoli on the right flank.
Meanwhile, on the left, Josh Doig has completed the most dribbles of any defender in Serie A since the turn of the year (13) and is a first-choice pick under Zaffaroni.
Fiorentina have Lorenzo Venuti back from suspension, after he missed out in the Conference League, but Dodo should still start at right-back.
With Nikola Milenkovic still on his way back from injury, and at best ready to take a spot on the bench, Lucas Martinez Quarta and Igor are set to be paired at the heart of the visitors' defence.
Luka Jovic will hope to regain his place up front ahead of Arthur Cabral, and Antonin Barak - who scored his most goals in a single Serie A season while with Monday's hosts (11 in 29 appearances last year) - should return too. The Czech midfielder has also scored three times in four games versus Verona.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Magnani, Hien, Dawidowicz; Faraoni, Tameze, Duda, Doig; Lazovic, Ngonge; Gaich
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Dodo, Martinez Quarta, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Amrabat, Barak; Gonzalez, Cabral, Kouame
We say: Hellas Verona 1-1 Fiorentina
The ultimate 'Jekyll and Hyde' team, in terms of their contrasting fortunes in Serie A and in Europe, Fiorentina can barely buy a goal domestically yet score freely in the Conference League.
Up against Verona's once-suspect defence, which has improved dramatically since the winter break, they are likely to find the going tough so may take only one point back to Florence.
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