Contemporary off the worst-refereed match of the Serie A season, Fiorentina returns dwelling to tackle scudetto challengers AC Milan. The 18th-place Viola have an opportunity to make it 3 straight within the league with no loss for the primary time this season however the Rossoneri; a win might thrust them out of the relegation zone with some assist from Hellas Veroa and Genoa. The guests, then again, are 3 factors behind Inter Milan for the highest spot and haven’t misplaced since their opening day shocker towards Cremonese, though they wanted a stoppage time equalizer for some extent towards the Grifone on Thursday and have appeared a bit extra fragile than their place suggests.
The match shall be performed on Sunday, 11 January 2026, at 14:00 GMT/9:00 AM EST, on the Stadio Artemio Franchi in stunning Firenze. It’s totally winter within the metropolis though a minimum of the clouds ought to break, giving us a crisp and sunny day with not one of the rain and slush that’s been hammering the town of late. The temperatures gained’t even drop right down to freezing however you possibly can nonetheless anticipate everybody within the stands to be bundled all the way in which up.
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Three issues to observe for1. Breaking down the Milan protection
We’ve seen Max Allegri’s oeuvre over the previous decade and a half and know what to anticipate: a deep block, a cussed refusal to be drawn out (lowest PPDA in Serie A), eleven gamers who know their assignments by coronary heart, and a nigh-impregnable form out of possession. The troll-faced mister has confronted a whole lot of criticism through the years for his dour strategy going ahead however no person’s ever doubted his means to arrange and encourage a protection.
Fiorentina making an attempt to unlock an Allegri workforce is one thing like making an attempt to knock down the Theodosian partitions with a fart. Even with Fikayo Tomori suspended, Koni de Winter is just too good a participant to select on. The one man within the workforce who’s not a plus defender is Luka Modrić and his expertise mitigates his athletic limitations. The remainder of the facet is wise, disciplined veterans who aren’t susceptible to errors.
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Particularly with , I’m undecided how Paolo Vanoli will strategy this. The excellent news is that Milan gained’t press excessive up, so Fiorentina shouldn’t flip the ball over in its personal half time as typically as regular. Albert Guðmundsson will do his regular factor (not that I belief him to interrupt down this protection) however the Viola will want some magic beans to topple this Rossonero big, in addition to a whole lot of luck, and I fear that they used all of it up towards Lazio on Wednesday.
2. Personnel rotation
At about minute 70’ towards Lazio, Nicolò Fagioli made a very dangerous go on the sting of his personal field, then overdribbled and needed to chop down Mattia Zaccagni, getting himself booked. He was Fiorentina’s finest participant within the sport so these aren’t criticisms, however I’m fairly certain he was utterly out of gasoline, having performed 90 powerful minutes towards Cremonese on the weekend. Throw in Kean’s damage, Gosens latest return to well being, and several other different guys—Dodô, Rolando Mandragora, Cher Ndour, Fabiano Parisi—getting via a whole lot of miles and Vanoli might flip to his bench.
I doubt that Marco Brescianini is prepared to enter the XI however he would possibly function as an alternative. Luca Ranieri, Simon Sohm, and Niccolò Fortini all have an opportunity to play a task on this one. Between the potential for exhaustion and the standard of the opposition, although, I’ve to surprise if Vanoli’s going to relaxation a few of his stars right here on the idea that Milan would beat Fiorentina 10 out of 10 occasions proper now. Typically a scheduled loss isn’t a horrible factor, though that’s in all probability the fallacious message to ship to a workforce that’s floundering like this one.
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3. Defending set items
Fiorentina has conceded 6 objectives from set items, which is the worst mark in Serie A. The one shocking factor about that statistic is that 6 looks like an awfully small quantity should you’ve watched these bozos. I don’t know what’s happening with these guys however each time the whistle goes and the opposing centerbacks trot ahead, all the Viola XI switches its mind off.
After his first sport in cost——Vanoli talked about how he hadn’t gotten to set items in his single coaching session. I used to be sympathetic; given the magnitude of his activity, he couldn’t very effectively repair the whole lot in a day. At this level, although, it’s fairly clear that no matter (if something) he’s doing to take care of opponents’ free kicks and corners isn’t working. Delivery an additional dozen objectives from set items is an effective way to make sure relegation.
Potential lineups
Fiorentina (4-3-3): de Gea; Ranieri, Pongračić, Comuzzo, Dodô; Ndour, Fagioli, Sohm; Guðmundsson, Piccoli, Parisi ||| Milan (3-5-2): Maignan; Pavlović, Gabbia, De Winter; Bartesaghi, Modrić, Rabiot, Fofana, Saelemaekers; Leão, Pulisic
Ted’s Memorial Blind Guess Division
One among these groups is 3 factors from the highest of the desk and the opposite is 3 factors from the underside, so it is smart that the bookies have Milan as the large favorites, though the road’s a bit slimmer than I’d have anticipated; I wouldn’t be shocked if the betting homes had pushed it Fiorentina’s technique to slide some cash that route. The intelligent wager goes over 2.5 complete objectives: each side have surpassed that quantity in over half their video games this season and, give the shortcomings the Viola have on the again, we may very well be in for some objectives.
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In any case, I’ll predict the very same 2-1 win for the nice guys as I predict in each single one in every of these. Let’s say it’s Roberto Piccoli will get one after Mike Maignan punts the ball off the again of his head and it loops again into the online, Luca Ranieri pops up on the again publish at a nook and places one away, and whoever’s the largest Milan defender will get one again from a nook; I assume which means Strahinja Pavlović.
Forza Viola!