Fiorentina go up against Hellas Verona on Wednesday evening looking to extend their unbeaten streak in Serie A to five matches.
While Fiorentina currently sit in sixth place in the standings, Verona are down in 13th position after two successive defeats.
Match preview
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With the future of Dusan Vlahovic a constant topic for debate, there may come a time when it could distract Fiorentina from their bid to secure European qualification.
Nevertheless while the Serbia international remains in their attack, anything is possible, and Vincenzo Italiano will be satisfied with occupying sixth place in the table at this stage of the season.
Vlahovic netted his 16th league goal as Fiorentina came from two goals adrift to draw with Sassuolo at the weekend, ensuring that they stay unbeaten since November 27.
Keeping clean sheets remains a major issue for this team, their only shutout in eight outings coming at home to bottom-placed Salernitana.
However, Fiorentina have a favourable schedule over the next two months, and they have every chance of closing in on the top four if Vlahovic maintains his current strike-rate in the final third.
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There was a time not so long ago when Verona possessed a relatively sturdy defence for a mid-table club, but 31 goals have been conceded in 18 league games this season.
Just one clean sheet has been kept since the end of the October international break, while seven strikes have been shipped in away games at Sampdoria, Venezia and Torino.
To their credit, however, Igor Tudor's side played 65 minutes of the last game at a player disadvantage, and the Croatian will take the positives from the resolve shown during that fixture.
Although Verona have failed to win either of their last two games at the Marcantonio Bentegodi Stadium, they have still collected 16 points from a possible 27 this campaign.
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Team News
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Verona will be without defender Giangiacomo Magnani after the centre-back's early red card at Torino.
Bosko Sutalo is in line to make just his second Serie A start of the campaign, and a further alteration to the back three will be required as a result of Federico Ceccherini being given his fifth yellow card.
With Pawel Dawidowicz expected to be sidelined for the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, Martin Hongla may be required to drop into the defence.
Cristiano Biraghi is absent for Fiorentina after his red card versus Sassuolo, a dismissal which could lead to Aleksa Terzic making his first Serie A start of the season.
Alfred Duncan may return in centre midfield, with Riccardo Saponara pushing for an opportunity in the final third.
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Casale, Sutalo, Hongla; Faraoni, Veloso, Ilic, Lazovic; Lasagna, Caprari; Simeone
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Quarta, Terzic; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Saponara, Vlahovic, Gonzalez
We say: Hellas Verona 1-2 Fiorentina
While home advantage could prove key for Hellas Verona, we cannot ignore the firepower of Fiorentina. With that in mind, a hard-fought victory for the away side appears to be the most likely result, one which will keep them in the mix for the Champions League.
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 Hellas Verona win with a probability of 42.31%. A win for Fiorentina had a probability of 32.69% and a draw had a probability of 25%.
The most likely scoreline for a Hellas Verona win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.03%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.94%) and 2-0 (6.85%). The likeliest Fiorentina win was 0-1 (7.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.77%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.8% likelihood.
