Fiorentina vs Monza Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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It was a long night in the UEFA Europa Conference League for Fiorentina in midweek but they managed to get over the line against Puskas Akademia as Raffaele Palladino prepares to face his former side, Monza, at the Artemio Franchi this weekend.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 1st September, 2024 - UK – 5:30pm / US ET – 12:30pm / US PT – 9:30am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+
FIORENTINA PREVIEW: UNCONVINCING START FOR I VIOLA
In midweek, Fiorentina conceded a late equaliser in Hungary to Puskas Akademia to make their UEFA Europa Conference League playoff round tie four-all on aggregate. After a quiet extra-time, I Viola then managed to squeeze through on penalties and into the next stage of the competition after finishing as runners’ up in each of the last two seasons.
Following the departure of Vincenzo Italiano to Bologna this summer, Raffaele Palladino’s reign so far in Florence has been quite underwhelming with no victories inside 90, or even 120 minutes, in their opening four matches across all competitions after back-to-back draws in Serie A at the start of this season.
MONZA PREVIEW: POOR START FOR I BRIANZOLI
To replace Palladino, the Berlusconi family-owned Monza opted to appoint Lazio and AC Milan legendary defender Alessandro Nesta, who was underwhelming in charge of Reggiana most recently. Monza have started their campaign in extremely poor and very dull fashion as Nesta tries to get to grips with his side.
Their first game saw them take on Serie B opposition, Sudtirol, a few weeks ago and, after a goalless draw, they squeezed through on penalties. They then shared a goalless draw with Empoli back in Florence on the opening weekend of the season before then suffering a 1-0 loss to Genoa last weekend.
FIORENTINA TEAM NEWS: FULLY FIT FIORENTINA
Raffaele Palladino has had a busy summer transfer window to deal with in his first few months as Fiorentina boss and Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat departed the club before the deadline, signing for Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.
The hosts do have a fully fit and available squad for this weekend’s visit of Monza but they still make changes as they seek some fluency and also have to deal with fatigue from their aforementioned European tie.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Terracciano; Comuzzo, Ranieri, Biraghi; Dodo, Mandragora, Richardson, Parisi; Barak, Kouame; Kean
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE:
MONZA TEAM NEWS: LACK OF THREAT
Former Manchester United forward Omari Forson is yet to get on the pitch for Monza under Alessandro Nesta and there is too much attacking emphasis placed upon the shoulders of Daniel Maldini.
They are without a couple of players for this weekend’s trip as both Alessio Cragno and Patrick Ciurria remain unavailable as Nesta continues to play a fairly defensive style.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Pizzignacco; Izzo, Pablo Mari, Caldirola; Birindelli, Pessina, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Dany Mota, Maldini; Petagna
UNAVAILABLE: Cragno (Injured), Ciurria (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
FIORENTINA VS MONZA PREDICTION
On paper, Fiorentina have had a reasonable start to the season with a trip to newly-promoted Parma and then hosting newly-promoted Venezia but they have managed to score just one goal in those games and that is representative of Palladino’s style and time at Monza. Monza have hardly changed and, if anything under Nesta, they have doubled down on being tediously defensive. It feels unlikely this one is going to be overly enjoyable for the neutral.
FIORENTINA VS MONZA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
