After falling just short in last season’s Europa Conference League, Fiorentina return for another shot at the title as they travel to Rapid Vienna in the playoff first leg. While Rapid have looked sharp in recent weeks, this clash represents a step up in quality and La Viola are expected to claim the upper hand on Thursday.
Rapid Vienna are already well into the new season having played four matches in the Austrian Bundesliga and a few European qualifiers. They have reason to be pleased with their start of the campaign, sitting third in the league while also being just two games away from the group stage of the Conference League.
The Austrian side were held to a 0-0 home draw in the first leg of the Conference League qualifying third round but picked up an impressive 5-0 win in the second meeting to progress to the playoffs. They head into Thursday’s clash off the back of another 5-0 win, thrashing Blau-Weiß Linz in a Bundesliga fixture last weekend.
The strange thing about Rapid Vienna’s recent form is that both results have come on the road as they have surprisingly found things difficult at home. Zoran Barisic’s men are winless in their last two matches in front of their fans, failing to score in both fixtures.
Fiorentina were one win away from glory last season as they lost the Conference League final to West Ham back in June. They will be hoping to go one better this time around and their performance last term earned them a direct berth in the playoffs.
Unlike Rapid Vienna, Fiorentina only just returned to competitive action as the Serie A kicked off last weekend. They began on an impressive note, picking up a 4-1 victory at Genoa with Giacomo Bonaventura and Nicolas Gonzalez among the goals.
Having begun with an away win, Fiorentina will be keen to carry that form into Thursday’s clash. Vincenzo Italiano’s men were near perfect on their travels in last season’s Conference League and are currently on a six-match winning run on the road in the competition.
How the bookies view it
Fiorentina have been installed overwhelming favourites among the bookies with a win priced at 13/20 by 10bet. Rapid Vienna are considered outsiders at home at 17/4 with bet365 while a draw is set at odds of 3/1 by Unibet.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Rapid Vienna and Fiorentina.
Players to watch
There are plenty of goals in this Rapid Vienna side with Guido Burgstaller usually at the heart of it. The striker has found the net three times in his last two appearances and is priced at 5/2 by Paddy Power to maintain his scoring run.
Giacomo Bonaventura and Nicolas Gonzalez were one of the stars for Fiorentina in last season’s run to the final and will be the ones to watch this term. Bonaventura scored in the defeat to West Ham and is priced at 13/5 by bet365 to find the net while a goal for Gonzalez is valued at 7/4 by Paddy Power.
Anything else catch the eye?
Rapid Vienna and Fiorentina boast plenty of attacking quality and both teams could be backed to score at 3/4 with Paddy Power. La Viola are coming off over 3.5 goals in their Serie A fixture last weekend and a repeat is priced at 39/20 with Unibet while over 2.5 goals can also be considered at 7/10 with William Hill.
Given the minimal odds for a straight Fiorentina victory, a win and over 2.5 goals offers more value at 6/4 with bet365.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Rapid Vienna and Fiorentina will be played on Aug 24, 2023 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Rapid Vienna vs Fiorentina prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
In December 2020 we sadly 
