Having both lost their last two matches, relegation-threatened Hellas Verona and European hopefuls Fiorentina will meet at Stadio Bentegodi on Sunday.
While Hellas are deep in danger at the wrong end of the Serie A standings, their Tuscan counterparts still have designs on finishing inside the top four.
Match preview
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Despite holding out for 74 minutes at San Siro, Verona eventually succumbed to a 1-0 defeat last week, as AC Milan continued their complete dominance over the Gialloblu.
A ninth straight league loss to the Rossoneri left them dangling just above the drop zone, with a dismal record in 2025 still ongoing.
Since the start of the year, they have won just once and scored only twice in seven Serie A matches - registering fewer goals than any other side across Europe's top five leagues.
At the other end, Paolo Zanetti's men have shipped 54, which represents the club's worst-ever tally at this stage of a top-flight campaign.
After taking a sole point from their last six home games - failing to score in the most recent four - Verona will now attempt to end that trend against Fiorentina.
While they were 2-1 winners when the teams last met at Stadio Bentegodi, in May 2024, Hellas have lost four of their last five versus the Viola - including November's reverse fixture.
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On that occasion, Moise Kean ruthlessly fired home a hat-trick against his former loan club, as Fiorentina cruised to a 3-1 win in Florence.
The Viola were then enjoying a real purple patch, but recent results have seen them slip down the standings.
After upsetting Inter Milan in early February, Raffaele Palladino's side have since lost their last two games - a rapid re-match against Inter, and to lowly Como last weekend.
Beaten 2-0 on home turf by opponents still battling for survival, Fiorentina dropped four points behind Lazio and Juventus in the race for Champions League qualification.
Before heading to Verona, the Tuscan club have lost three of their last five away fixtures - conceding more than one goal on three occasions - so they may be wary of another slip-up on Sunday.
Team News
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While Fiorentina will be missing regular starters Yacine Adli, Albert Gudmundsson and Andrea Colpani through injury, they can recall star striker Moise Kean, who served a suspension last weekend.
The Italy international made 19 appearances and scored four league goals for Verona in 2017-18, since when he has netted five times against them - including his only career hat-trick.
As Robin Gosens is now sidelined by a one-match ban, a rare opportunity arises for Fabiano Parisi to fill in at left-back; on the right, Dodo is set to make his 100th Fiorentina appearance.
Meanwhile, Verona must do without their own first choice on the left side of defence, as Domagoj Bradaric is suspended; Darko Lazovic should replace him. In better news for the hosts, centre-back Daniele Ghilardi returns from a ban.
No midfielder throughout Europe's top five leagues has attempted more shots than Tomas Suslov without scoring this season (27), but he will go again on Sunday, supporting either Amin Sarr or Daniel Mosquera up front.
Suat Serdar, Martin Frese, Abdou Harroui and top scorer Casper Tengstedt are still sidelined by injury.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Dawidowicz, Coppola, Ghilardi; Tchatchoua, Niasse, Duda, Lazovic; Suslov, Kastanos; Sarr
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Dodo, Comuzzo, Ranieri, Parisi; Fagioli, Mandragora; Folorunsho, Beltran, Zaniolo; Kean
We say: Hellas Verona 0-1 Fiorentina
Despite stumbling a little of late, Fiorentina are a class above Serie A strugglers Verona and should return to winning ways.
With their hosts breaking negative records at both ends of the pitch, the visitors can capitalise and stay on track for European qualification.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
