Fiorentina Vs Venezia: La Viola Ready To Win First Victory At Home

David de Gea, is now a new mainstay at the heart of the Fiorentina defense (photo: x @acffiorentina)

JAKARTA - Fiorentina will seek to win their first win in Serie A this season when they host Venezia, who has just been promoted at Stadio Artemio Franchi, Sunday, August 25. After only winning two draws in the first two matches, Raffaele Palladino's team are determined to get the full three points before their supporters.

After having to settle for a 1-1 draw against Parma in Serie A's opener, Fiorentina again drew in an exciting European competition. Despite being two goals behind in the first leg of the European Conference League playoffs against Puskas Academy, Viola managed to bounce back thanks to goals from Riccardo Sottil, Lucas Martinez Quarta, and a new player, Moise Kean. However, the equalizer in the final minutes made Fiorentina's hopes of advancing to the group stage still dependent on the second leg in Hungary.

In a domestic match, Fiorentina will try to avoid a winless result in the first two league games, something they have not experienced since 2019. The new coach, Raffaele Palladino, has come under pressure to give maximum results in front of loyal fans at the Stadio Franchi. Given Fiorentina's record positive for winning their last five home games against Venezia in Serie A, Palladino has strong capital to win.

On the other hand, Venezia returned to Serie A through last season's playoffs, but lost their coach, Paolo Vanoli, who moved to Torino. Now under Eusebio Di Francesco, the former Frosinone coach is tasked with leading Venezia's battle in Serie A which is predicted to be difficult. After being knocked out of Coppa Italia by Brescia and losing 3-1 to Lazio in the Serie A opener, Venezia must rise soon to avoid a season full of struggle.

Venezia has a sweet history against Fiorentina by scoring more goals and winning more wins than against any other club in Serie A. However, they have never won their first away game of the season in their Serie A history.

Fiorentina coach, Raffaele Palladino, is likely to make some changes to his line-up following a busy schedule earlier this season. Croatian centre-back Marin Pongracic is ruled out due to the red card he received on his debut against Parma, while Moise Kean will most likely start the match as a starter to replace Lucas Beltran.

Kean, who has just scored Fiorentina's first goal after more than a year, is expected to end his fasting goal in Serie A which has been going on for 24 games since April 2023. Meanwhile, the new goalkeeper, David de Gea, who performed well in European matches, is expected to keep Fiorentina's goal.

In the Venezia camp, the mainstay striker Joel Pohjanpalo is still doubtful about appearing due to a thigh injury, having been the top scorer in Serie B last season with 22 goals. Christian Gytkjaer is predicted to spearhead Venezia in this match. In addition, a loan player from Juventus, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, may not appear from the start, despite the absence of Gianluca Busio and total Tessmann.

Fiorentina will try to take advantage of their strong home record to secure three points, while Venezia hopes to surprise the hosts with their best form in the away game.

Estimated Lineup:

Fiorentina (4-3-2-1): De Gea; Martinez Quarta, Ranieri, Gumuzzo; Dodo, Amrabat, Mandragora, Parisi; Sottil, Colpani; Kean

Venezia (3-4-2-1):Joronen; Idzes, Svoboda, Sverko; Candela, Duncan, Andersen, Zambano; Oristanio, Ellertsson; Gytkjaer