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

La Viola have not made the best of starts to their European campaign, and were stunned in the league over the weekend.

Match preview

Vincenzo Italiano may have felt a little aggrieved that his side were forced to play as recently as Monday in Serie A, and he will have been even more agitated at the result.

Fiorentina were surprisingly beaten 2-0 at home by an Empoli side which had lost seven of their first eight league games to start the season.

The result came as an even bigger surprise considering the form Fiorentina brought into the fixture, but the international break may have halted their momentum.

A win would have taken La Viola to 20 points from nine games, a tally which would have marked their best start to a season in the three-points-per-win era.

However, a defeat has completely stopped them in their tracks, and the games continue to get trickier, as trips to Lazio, AC Milan and Roma await, as well as a home encounter with Juventus.

Last season's UECL finalists have been below par in Europe so far though, as they only scraped past Rapid Vienna in qualifying, and have drawn both of their opening two group games 2-2 against Genk and Ferencvaros.

The draw with the Hungarian side on matchday two saw them go 2-0 down in front of a home crowd, and they needed an injury-time Jonathan Ikone goal to salvage a point.

This double header with Serbian minnows Cukaricki should get them back on track though, as Italiano will demand six points while Ferencvaros and Genk take points off each other.

Cukaricki will be making their first-ever trip to Italy for a competitive outing here, but come into it in rather dismal form.

Igor Matic's side have won only two of their last 12 matches in all competitions, but remarkably, one of those came against Serbian champions and Champions League competitors Red Star Belgrade.

A 1-0 defeat at Novi Pazar on Friday has extended that poor run though, as they are now already eight points off the Champions League places after 10 games.

That is a huge falloff considering Cukaricki only missed out on a Champions League qualifying place on goal difference last season.

As expected, they have endured a difficult start on the continent too, as Ferencvaros and Genk have proved too much for the Serbs, recording 3-1 and 2-0 wins, respectively.

Fiorentina Europa Conference League form:

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W

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Fiorentina form (all competitions):

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D

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Cukaricki Europa Conference League form:

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L

Cukaricki form (all competitions):

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Team News

Italiano went with a full-strength Fiorentina side on Monday, so rotation is to be expected in this one.

Top scorer Nicolas Gonzalez is one of the players likely to be given a rest, considering he has been nursing a minor injury of late, and also played twice for Argentina during the international break.

In defence, both Dodo and Yerry Mina are out injured, while Gaetano Castrovilli continues to recover from a knee injury.

For the visitors, teenager Ze Mario is their only current absentee, so in attack, Sunday Adetunji is likely to lead the line, but he has not scored in the five games since netting the winner against Red Star.

Marko Docic is one to watch, as he recorded double figures for both goals and assists in the league from midfield for Cukaricki last season.

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

Terracciano; Kayode, Martinez Quarta, Ranieri, Biraghi; Lopez, Mandragora, Barak; Ikone, Beltran, Sottil

Cukaricki possible starting lineup:

Belic; Stevanovic, Vranjes, Subotic, Tosic; Stankovic, Docic, Sissoko, Ivanovic, Adzic; Adetunji

We say: Fiorentina 3-0 Cukaricki

Even with the potential of rotation from Italiano, Fiorentina should have no difficulty in comfortably recording three points against the competition debutants.

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