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Matchday 36: Fiorentina-Roma Preview

John Solano
I

With only three league matches in Serie A remaining, Roma face a critical showdown tomorrow evening in Tuscany.

Aiming to finish fifth and clinch Europa League football next season, the Giallorossi face a must-win clash against Fiorentina on Monday. The capital club temporarily fell behind in-city rivals Lazio in the league table after the Biancocelesti defeated Sampdoria 2-0 yesterday.

The win meant Maurizio Sarri’s men increased their point total to 62 while Roma go into tomorrow’s fixture with 59 points.

The Giallorossi will also have to deal with fatigue after they punched their place into the Conference League final on May 25th.

As a result, Roma boss José Mourinho is expected to heavily rotate his side and rest several of his first choice players such as Rick Karsdorp, Nicola Zalewski, Roger Ibañez and potentially also Nicolo Zaniolo.

Fiorentina, meanwhile, are looking to snap their three-match losing streak, which included a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Udinese.

“Roma are a great side, they will play a European final. We need great quality in attacking and defending, against such a side like Roma, who have several attacking players. We need maximum focus,” asserted manager Vincenzo Italiano.

“We didn’t have this much time to work, a full week. We prepared the game against Roma well, we need to react. In these final three matches we need to get points.” 

Italiano also believes La Viola’s supporters could tip the scales in their favor in helping get a result.

“They will have great enthusiasm, but we play at home, and our fans can make us go that extra step. The Franchi can push us and all together we need to give our best.”

Kick-off is slated for tomorrow at 20.45 CET at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

Probable Formations

Fiorentina
(4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Gonzalez, Cabral, Saponara

Bench: Dragowski, Venuti, Terzic, Nastasic, Quarta, Amrabat, Maleh, Callejon, Ikoné, Sottil, Piatek, Kokorin 

Roma
(3-4-1-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Kumbulla; Maitland-Niles, Cristante, Veretout, Viña; Pellegrini; Pérez, Abraham

Bench: Fuzato, Boer, Bove, Ibañez, Karsdorp, Diawara, Zalewski, Oliveira, Zaniolo, El Sharaawy, Shomurodov

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