After suffering an historic home defeat last week, Juventus aim to keep their top-four ambitions on track when they visit Fiorentina on Sunday.
Beaten by four goals in Turin for the first time since 1967, the Serie A giants are amid a crisis that the Viola will be keen to capitalise on at Stadio Franchi.
Match preview
© Imago
Both in contention for an improbable Scudetto, Juventus and Atalanta BC met at the Allianz Stadium last weekend, with defeat for either side likely to end any dreams of pipping Napoli and Inter Milan to the title.
Despite making a tame exit from Europe to PSV Eindhoven, before being dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Empoli, Juve had revived their faint hopes of silverware with a sequence of five straight league wins.
However, a shambolic performance was ruthlessly exploited by La Dea, who strode to a comfortable 4-0 success, as the Bianconeri's dismal day was capped off by out-of-favour striker Dusan Vlahovic leaving the bench to inadvertently set up Atalanta's final goal.
After the club's worst Serie A home loss in almost six decades, an inevitable inquest was held in the media and beyond, with Thiago Motta's job apparently at risk if Juventus now suffer back-to-back league defeats for the first time in a year.
Before heading to Florence on Sunday, Juve have won their last two top-flight away fixtures - against Como and Cagliari - and they have only been beaten once on their travels around Italy this season.
Furthermore, following an eventful 2-2 draw in December's reverse fixture, the Turin club have lost just one of their last eight meetings with the Viola; so, at least precedent will be on their side.
© Imago
Indeed, from 85 Serie A home games against one of their most loathed rivals, Fiorentina have recorded only 28 wins to date, with the last coming in May 2022.
Ex-Juve striker Moise Kean scored their opener when the teams met earlier this season, and the Italy international was on target again in midweek, as the Viola overturned a first-leg deficit to reach the Conference League quarter-finals.
A 3-1 home win over Panathinaikos took them through to the last eight for a third consecutive campaign; this term, Raffaele Palladino's side want to take one step further and return to Tuscany with the trophy.
Fiorentina will next meet NK Celje in UEFA's third-tier competition, but first they must try to salvage something from a faltering domestic season.
Plagued by inconsistency in 2025, they have posted four wins and four defeats from their last eight league matches; throughout this calendar year, only Monza and Empoli have lost more often.
Palladino's position has even been called into question in some quarters, as last week's tame 2-1 loss to Scudetto contenders Napoli left his team five points adrift of the all-important top six.
Team News
© Imago
In addition to three long-term absentees, Juventus will again be without Douglas Luiz this weekend, while Nicolo Savona, Jonas Rouhi and Francisco Conceicao all remain doubts.
After bagging a brace in the reverse fixture, Khephren Thuram is set to feature in central midfield, but it remains to be seen who will start up front.
Recently preferred to Dusan Vlahovic, French forward Randal Kolo Muani was named February's Serie A 'Player of the Month'. While Vlahovic has averaged one goal every 162 minutes for Juventus - with a shot conversion rate of 15% - during his spell at Fiorentina, the Serbian averaged one every 146 minutes and had a shot success rate of 19%.
After a long search, the Viola have finally found his successor in the shape of top scorer Moise Kean, who sits second in the Capocannoniere charts.
Kean started on Thursday and should lead the line again, while another ex-Juve man, Nicolo Fagioli, will hope to keep his place in central midfield.
He may make way, though, as Yacine Adli has been back on the bench following a layoff and could now be ready to start; Andrea Colpani is the visitors' only absentee.
After serving suspensions last week, Rolando Mandragora and Nicolo Zaniolo will be available, alongside Pablo Mari and Cher Ndour, both of whom are not on the UEFA squad list.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Pongracic, Mari, Ranieri; Dodo, Adli, Cataldi, Fagioli, Gosens; Gudmundsson, Kean
Juventus possible starting lineup:
Di Gregorio; Weah, Kalulu, Kelly, Cambiaso; Thuram, Locatelli; McKennie, Koopmeiners, Gonzalez; Kolo Muani
We say: Fiorentina 1-1 Juventus
Fiorentina have not only scored the joint-most Serie A goals during the first 15 minutes this season (seven) but are also the only team yet to concede in the opening quarter-hour.
The Viola could make another fast start against ailing Juventus - a club reviled by their fans following decades of one-way transfer dealings - but that might not prove enough to secure a much-needed win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
