Now up to fifth following three wins on the spin, Fiorentina welcome mid-table Sassuolo to Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday afternoon.
Having won five of their last six matches in all competitions, the Viola are in scintillating form approaching the mid-season break, but must face a visiting side unbeaten in their last five Serie A games.
Match preview
© Reuters
Yet to draw a match this season, Vincenzo Italiano's Fiorentina are the ultimate win or bust side in Serie A, but they have mostly been coming out on top during a spectacular past month.
The Viola's 10th league victory of an entertaining campaign came last weekend, at the expense of bottom club Salernitana, when star striker Dusan Vlahovic was at the double - bringing his 2021 tally to a remarkable 32 Serie A strikes. In the last 60 years, only one man (Cristiano Ronaldo, with 33) has bagged more in one calendar year.
After keeping their push for a return to European competition on track with another win - following previous successes against Bologna and Sampdoria - they can now look down upon old foes Juventus and both Rome clubs in the standings.
Continuing the club's best start since 2015, Fiorentina have now come out on top at Stadio Artemio Franchi in their six most recent home games, scoring at least twice on each occasion - the latest coming in midweek.
They progressed to the last 16 of the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 victory over Serie B side Benevento on Wednesday night, as a much-changed team took them into the latter stages of a competition in which they will be among the favourites to prevail, given their progressive approach.
First, though, the Tuscan side must produce a result against one of their recent bogey teams in the Italian top flight, having beaten Sassuolo just once in the clubs' last seven meetings.
© Reuters
After benefiting from a full week's recuperation and training, Sassuolo will be well placed to continue their positive streak against the Viola, as they were spared cup duty as a result of their eighth-placed league finish last term.
The 12th-placed Neroverdi will certainly not fear the trip to the Franchi either, owing to their proven ability to match Serie A's big boys over recent weeks.
Unbeaten in their last four games against sides starting above them in the table, Sassuolo have taken down Juventus, Lazio and Milan during that spell, while drawing 2-2 with Napoli after a spectacular late comeback.
Undoubtedly, the form of the Emilian club's Italy internationals up front has played a significant role in their recent upturn, following a sluggish start to life under Alessio Dionisi. Both Domenico Berardi and Giacomo Raspadori were on target in the 2-1 win over Lazio last weekend, while Gianluca Scamacca has been among the goals too, since establishing himself as the team's regular 'number nine'.
That represented another come-from-behind victory for the Neroverdi, who have gained more points from losing positions than any other Serie A side during this calendar year (23 in all), but they will hope to take the early initiative themselves this week against a vibrant Viola side.
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- D
- D
- W
Team News
© Reuters
After switching things up for their Coppa Italia tie in midweek, Fiorentina will make a series of changes for their penultimate game before the winter break - chief among them being Vlahovic's reintroduction for Aleksandr Kokorin in attack.
While Youssef Maleh's prospects of keeping his role in Vincenzo Italiano's three-man midfield have been helped by two goals in his last three games, Sofyan Amrabat and Lucas Torreira are also pushing for a start alongside Giacomo Bonaventura and Alfred Duncan.
Centre-back Matija Nastasic (calf) is set to be sidelined once again, and first-choice goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski may be closing in on a comeback but remains out of action this weekend. Erick Pulgar is also a major doubt to make the squad.
Sassuolo, meanwhile, could have versatile forward Filip Djuricic ready to return and take a place on the bench, while Jeremie Boga and Domenico Berardi are both set to overcome knocks to play a part.
Due to his late sending-off against Lazio, the suspended Kaan Ayhan will be missing from the visitors' back four, so Vlad Chiriches should join Gian Marco Ferrari in the centre-back pairing.
Up front, the Azzurri trio of Berardi, Giacomo Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca should be retained, while Boga fights it out with Hamed Traore for a place on the left flank.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Duncan, Torreira; Gonzalez, Vlahovic, Callejon
Sassuolo possible starting lineup:
Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Lopez; Berardi, Raspadori, Traore; Scamacca
We say: Fiorentina 3-2 Sassuolo
Expect goals in the Tuscan capital on Sunday lunchtime, as neither side prioritises their defensive duties and are generally focused on maximising the attacking talent at their disposal.
In-form forwards such as Berardi, Raspadori, Gonzalez and Vlahovic should ensure an entertaining affair, which the home side may just edge - keeping their momentum rolling on into the final game of 2021.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Fiorentina win with a probability of 53.78%. A win for Sassuolo had a probability of 23.96% and a draw had a probability of 22.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Fiorentina win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.75%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.44%) and 2-0 (8.07%). The likeliest Sassuolo win was 1-2 (6.16%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.19%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.9% likelihood.
