Preview: Fiorentina vs. Bologna - prediction, team news, lineups

The teams meet at Stadio Artemio Franchi, separated by just two points in the standings, and victory for the Viola would take them above their Rossoblu rivals.

Match preview

Just one step away from the Coppa Italia final, Fiorentina's midweek win over Torino secured a two-legged tie with Serie A strugglers Cremonese in April - keeping alive hopes of lifting the club's first major silverware for more than 20 years.

A Luka Jovic header and Jonathan Ikone's late strike put the Viola on the verge of progress heading into stoppage time, but Toro finally found the net in the 93rd minute to set up a tense finale at the Franchi.

Having then seen out the 2-1 result, there has been little time to celebrate for Vincenzo Italiano's side, as they must immediately return their attention to league duty, having suffered the consequences of chronic inconsistency through the first half of their Serie A campaign.

Though they have faced the fewest shots of any side in the Italian top flight this season, Fiorentina have still kept only one clean sheet during their last 13 league matches, and since October no other team has posted fewer shutouts.

Sitting 12th in the table after a run of one win from six in Serie A, the Tuscans' season may now be defined by progress in knockout competitions: they also anticipate a Europa Conference League battle with Braga later this month.

Nonetheless, Fiorentina can overtake their visitors in the standings by prevailing on Sunday evening, and they have won more top-level fixtures against Bologna than any other opponent. Not only that, they have won eight of the teams' last 10 contests in Florence - conceding just one goal in the process.

In all, Bologna have gone without victory in 16 of their last 17 Serie A meetings with the Viola, though they did win the most recent encounter in September, when Musa Barrow and Marko Arnautovic were on target at Dall'Ara.

After that success in the reverse fixture, the Rossoblu could now do the double over Fiorentina for the first time since the 1989-90 campaign - and recent form suggests they have every chance of doing so.

Thiago Motta's men have claimed 19 points over the last 10 matchdays, with only Napoli, Inter and Juventus accruing more during the same period. As a result, they have moved up to ninth in the table after 20 league games.

Bologna's second win since returning from the winter break came at home to Spezia last week, when a goal in either half earned all three points - Stefan Posch and in-form forward Riccardo Orsolini doing the honours for the Emilian outfit.

Now, they aim to improve an away record which features just two league victories this season, with an average of over two goals conceded per game.

Fiorentina Serie A form:

L

D

W

L

L

D

Fiorentina form (all competitions):

W

W

L

L

D

W

Bologna Serie A form:

W

L

L

W

D

W

Bologna form (all competitions):

L

L

W

L

D

W

Team News

After suffering a fracture of the nose in midweek, Sofyan Amrabat is still expected to feature in Fiorentina's midfield on Saturday, but will play wearing a protective mask.

Riccardo Sottil and Gaetano Castrovilli remain sidelined by injury, though, so an opportunity exists for new signing Josip Brekalo to make his Serie A debut at some stage.

In midfield, Amrabat should join Giacomo Bonaventura, who has scored five league goals against Bologna in his career to date. Further forward, Luka Jovic and Arthur Cabral battle it out to take the centre-forward role.

By comparison with their hosts, Bologna's absence list is a long one and features some significant names: Nicola Sansone (toe), Kevin Bonifazi (knee), Lorenzo De Silvestri (calf) and Gary Medel (thigh) all join star striker Marko Arnautovic (foot) in missing the trip to Tuscany.

Thiago Motta does at least have recently-arrived Giorgos Kyriakopoulos available, and the Sassuolo loanee will battle it out with Andrea Cambiaso to start at left-back, or potentially feature in a more advanced role.

Almost certain to start on the right wing, Riccardo Orsolini has directly contributed to six goals in his last nine Serie A appearances - four of his own and two assists.

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Amrabat, Duncan; Kouame, Bonaventura, Gonzalez; Jovic

Bologna possible starting lineup:

Skorupski; Posch, Soumaoro, Lucumi, Kyriakopoulos; Dominguez, Schouten; Orsolini, Ferguson, Soriano; Zirkzee

We say: Fiorentina 2-1 Bologna

Previews by email