Fiorentina - Juventus
Stadio Franchi
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After Thursday’s dress rehearsal in the Coppa Italia, one of Serie A’s oldest and bitterest rivalries will truly resurface when Fiorentina and Juventus meet at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Although a frenzied atmosphere is inevitable for this clash, there will be an added intensity this season as both sets of fans can legitimately harbour Scudetto aspirations. Having already beaten Milan, the Viola will feel they are capable of upsetting the leaders, but there can be no doubt that this will be Coach Cesare Prandelli’s biggest task to date.
Fiorentina have been without a doubt the surprise package of the season. Despite Prandelli’s insistence that his side cannot compete with the giants, the Viola have a perfect home record and expectations have risen to a point where last week’s 1-1 draw with Roma was a real disappointment. Victory over Juventus would surely see Prandelli’s realism fall by the wayside and Fiorentina emerge as true Scudetto contenders.
As if the Artemio Franchi encounter was not appetising enough, there is a history of high scoring matches between the two sides. Last year’s fixture ended in an action-packed 3-3 draw with defender Giorgio Chiellini on target for Fiorentina, this time he lines up for the visitors. With Serie A’s two top scorers Luca Toni and David Trezeguet both on the field this promises to be another game full of goalmouth incident.
Juventus have won five of their six games away from home and although Fabio Capello’s side were not at their best in last week’s 3-1 victory over Treviso, they will take heart from the excellent performances of Adrian Mutu and Christian Abbiati. The men from Turin also have a history of rising to the big occasion.
Prandelli has a fully fit squad at his disposal, with the exception of long-term casualty Guilherme Do Prado, and will field his strongest side. Capello welcomes back Patrick Vieira and Lilian Thuram from suspension. Gigi Buffon is likely to start on the bench despite his return from injury.
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Fiorentina (probable): Frey; Ujfalusi, Di Loreto, Dainelli, Pasqual; Brocchi, Donadel, Fiore, Montolivo, Jorgensen; Toni
Juventus (probable): Abbiati; Zambrotta, Thuram, Cannavaro, Chiellini; Camoranesi, Emerson, Vieira, Nedved; Trezeguet, Ibrahimovic
Ref: To folllow