Fiorentina vs Rapid Vienna
UEFA Europa League Conference, KO: 19:00 Aug 31, 2023, Stadio Artemio Franchi
Fiorentina are attempting to overturn a slim deficit as they host Rapid Vienna in their Europa Conference League playoff second leg. The Italian side will be banking in their vocal home support and will fancy chances of claiming the upper hand on Thursday.
Fiorentina will be disappointed to have come away from Vienna empty-handed in the first leg. They dominated the possession and created several goalscoring opportunities but could not find a way back into the encounter after falling behind in the first half.
La Viola lost in the final of last season’s Conference League and will be keen to go one better this time around. They will be looking to channel their early season Serie A form having claimed a 4-1 victory at Genoa in their opening fixture before being held to a 2-2 draw by Lecce last weekend.
While the result in Vienna was disappointing, manager Vincenzo Italiano will take confidence from the overall performance and will consider their profligacy a mere blip. Fiorentina are usually quite prolific in front of goal, scoring six goals in just two Serie A matches, although they have conceded in both fixtures.
Rapid Vienna will be pleased to have secured the 1-0 victory from the first leg having rode their luck a few times last Thursday. Marco Grull’s penalty midway through the first half proved to be the difference as they fended off wave after wave of Fiorentina attack to secure the win.
That result is an extension of Rapid Vienna’s fine form in recent weeks as they are unbeaten in their last four matches across all competitions. Zoran Barisic’s men have claimed three wins in that run but were held to a 1-1 draw in a Bundesliga fixture last Sunday.
Rapid Vienna have also shown some quality on their recent travels as they are unbeaten in their last four away matches. However, those results have been mostly against Austrian sides while they have also picked up just two wins from their last five away matches in the Conference League.
How the bookies view it
Fiorentina are considered overwhelming favourites to come out on top on Thursday with a home win priced at 2/11 with BoyleSports. A victory for Rapid Vienna is valued at 16/1 by Coral while a draw is set at odds of 13/2 by Paddy Power.
Head to head
Last week’s first leg is the only previous meeting between Fiorentina and Rapid Vienna.
Players to watch
Nicolas Gonzalez was among the culprits for Fiorentina in the first leg and will be keen to make up for the missed chances. The attacker has found the net in two of the last three matches and is priced at evens by Paddy Power to find the net on Thursday.
Guido Burgstaller was not on target for Rapid Vienna in the first leg but has been their most dangerous attacker early in the season. The forward has three goals in the last five matches and is priced at 7/2 with Paddy Power to find the net on Thursday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Fiorentina have seen over 3.5 goals in two of their last three matches across all competitions and a similar outcome is priced at 11/10 with Paddy Power. La Viola have the quality to be prolific in attack and can be tipped to score in both halves at 7/10 with BoyleSports.
That attacking quality means Fiorentina can also be tipped in the -2 handicap market at 11/8 with 888Sport.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Fiorentina and Rapid Vienna will be played on Aug 31, 2023 and kick off at 19:00. Check below for our tipsters best Fiorentina vs Rapid Vienna prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
