After their incredible success streak was finally brought to an end last week, Fiorentina will aim to start another winning run on Monday, when they meet Udinese.
The Viola were beaten by Bologna before nervily securing progress in Europe, while their visitors have recently exited the cup and slipped down the Serie A standings.
Match preview
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Halting a club record-equalling run of eight straight Serie A wins, Fiorentina's Derby dell'Appennino defeat to a Bologna side coached by former boss Vincenzo Italiano may have brought their purple patch to a close, but they remain in good shape for a top-four challenge.
The Tuscan club last lost back-to-back league matches in April, while they still sit above Calcio giants AC Milan and Juventus in the table - and with one game in hand.
In midweek, they visited northern Portugal to take on fellow Conference League high-flyers Vitoria de Guimaraes, and Rolando Mandragora's late leveller proved enough to send them straight through to the last 16 without requiring a playoff.
Fiorentina now return to Florence, where they have excelled so far this season: across all competitions, Raffaele Palladino's men have scored 32 goals on home soil - more than any other Serie A side.
Unbeaten in 19 home games - of which they have won 13 - their last defeat at Stadio Franchi came way back in March, representing the club's best run for 16 years.
Since their return to the top flight two decades ago, the Viola have also won more games (16) and scored more goals (49) at home to Udinese than any against other opponent, so history suggests they can claim maximum points on Monday.
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Despite that dismal record at the Franchi, Udinese's last seven league meetings with Fiorentina have seen both teams win three games each - the outlier being a 2-2 draw when they last met, at the start of 2024.
They now reconvene at the year's end, with the visitors enduring an extended downturn that threatens to derail what seemed set to be a promising campaign.
After posting three wins and a draw from their first four Serie A matches under Kosta Runjaic - who was appointed following the Friulani's close brush with relegation last season - Udinese have since lost eight of the last 12.
Though his side still occupy a relatively safe place in mid-table, last week's 3-1 defeat to Napoli means they have now won just one of their last seven league games.
Furthermore, the Bianconeri meekly slipped out of the Coppa Italia on Thursday night, when they gifted two first-half goals to Inter Milan at San Siro and barely threatened to fight back.
Team News
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For the final league-phase fixture of Fiorentina's latest Conference League campaign, Raffaele Palladino made seven changes to the side that faced Bologna, and most will be reversed on Monday evening.
David de Gea returns between the posts, Moise Kean should start up front, while Michael Kayode is set to replace Dodo, who must serve a suspension.
Kean needs one more goal to reach double figures for the first time in Serie A: the last Italian to score at least 10 goals in a league season for the Viola was Federico Chiesa, five years ago.
Udinese will also rotate again, having switched around their team to face Inter. Most notably, Alexis Sanchez finally made the first appearance of his second spell with the Friulani, unexpectedly starting against his former club, but it remains to be seen whether he can play two games in four days.
Instead, French forward Florian Thauvin is likely to join forces with top scorer Lorenzo Lucca in the final third.
Sandi Lovric suffered a thigh injury during last week's loss to Napoli, joining Oier Zarraga, Martin Payero, Keinan Davis and first-choice goalkeeper Maduka Okoye on the sidelines.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Kayode, Comuzzo, Ranieri, Gosens; Adli, Cataldi; Colpani, Gudmundsson, Sottil; Kean
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Sava; Kristensen, Bijol, Giannetti; Ehizibue, Atta, Karlstrom, Ekkelenkamp, Zemura; Thauvin, Lucca
We say: Fiorentina 2-1 Udinese
Udinese average over one goal per game on the road this season, and they certainly have the nous to breach Fiorentina's usually solid defence.
However, the Viola have conceded the fewest second-half goals across Europe's top five leagues - just two - so if they get themselves in front they should stay there.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
