Fiorentina welcome Parma to the Stadio Artemio Franchi for an Italian Serie A fixture on Sunday. With La Viola pushing for a top four finish and should be too strong for the visitors.
The hosts come into this tie in fine form and have claimed four wins and a draw in their last five matches in all competitions. They played out a 2-2 draw with AC Milan last time out in Serie A before securing a 2-1 first leg advantage at Celje in the UEFA Conference League quarter final.
La Viola have also impressed at home lately, winning five of their last six Serie A fixtures. That run has been driven by a solid defence, with Raffaele Palladino's men keeping four clean sheets in the five matches.
Parma head into Sunday's clash off the back of a 2-2 draw with Inter Milan in their previous Serie A fixture. They showed character to fight back from two goals down, with Adrian Bernabe and Jacob Ondrejka getting the goals.
Cristian Chivu’s men have also struggled on their travels and are winless in their last nine away matches. The visitors have been beaten six times in that run and have failed to score in five of those fixtures.
How the bookies view it: Fiorentina overwhelming favourites
Fiorentina have been installed as overwhelming favourites among the bookies and are priced at 4/6 for a home win. A victory for Parma is valued at 15/4 by BoyleSports, who are also offering 5/2 for a draw.
Head to head: Fiorentina on top
Fiorentina have a 19-13 advantage with 19 draws from 51 previous matches against Parma. Both teams battled to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture back in August.
Players to watch: Red-hot Kean
Moise Kean is Fiorentina’s top scorer with 17 goals and will be the one to watch on Sunday. The striker has also been on target in the last two fixtures and is priced at 5/4 by BoyleSports to get on the score sheet.
Fiorentina have kept clean sheets in four of the last five Serie A matches, shutting out attacks from Inter Milan, Juventus and Atalanta. Pablo Mari often features at the heart of the defence and can lead the hosts to another clean sheet at 11/8 with BoyleSports.
Probable line-ups
Fiorentina will be without Robin Gosens, Eduardo Bove and Andrea Colpani who are unavailable due to several knocks. However, Kean, Albert Gudmundsson and Luca Ranieri are expected to keep their spots in the starting line-up.
Parma are plagued by injuries with Ange-Yoan Bonny, Matteo Cancellieri, Adrian Benedyczak, Yordan Osorio, Valentin Mihaila, Alessandro Circati, Gabriel Charpentier, Mateusz Kowalski and Matteo Cancellieri all unavailable while Pontus Almqvist is suspended. However, Simon Sohm, Hernani and Dennis Man are expected to start.
Fiorentina: De Gea, Pongracic, Mari, Ranieri, Dodo, Mandragora, Cataldi, Fagioli, Parisi, Gudmundsson, Kean
Parma: Suzuki, Valeri, Valenti, Vogliacco, Del Prato, Sohm, Keita, Hermani, Man, Camara, Leoni
Anything else catch the eye?
Fiorentina have won to nil in four of their last five Serie A home matches and a repeat is priced at 15/8 with BoyleSports. Having put three past Inter Milan and Juventus, a -1 handicap can also be considered at 19/10.
Six of the last seven Fiorentina games have witnessed a goal in each half. A feat that has occurred in their last three matches against Parma. The trend is expected to continue with BoyleSports offering odds of 4/5 for this outcome.
This Serie A match between Fiorentina and Parma will be played on and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Fiorentina vs Parma prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
GambleAware