Fiorentina – Genoa 17.03.2013

Fiorentina revived their top 3 ambitions with an impressive victory over Lazio and they now aim to continue the good run of results at their Artemio Franchi. Genoa slipped back to the danger zone having lost last two league fixtures, and this is clearly not the right time to be facing in-form Viola.

This season started really well for Fiorentina, as new boss Vincenzo Montella succesfuly integrated no less than 18 summer signings into the squad, and it soon became clear Viola would mount a serious challenge for Champions League places. After largely impressing in the first part of the league campaign, the team suffered a dip in form right after the winter break, picking up just one point from four league games, but they have since managed to get their season back on track. Home wins over Parma, Inter and Chievo, and 2-0 away victory over Lazio saw Viola return into contention for a top 3 finish, which means the hosts go into this game full of confidence. With their 10-3-1 home record second to none in Serie A, Fiorentina look a good bet to extend their amazing run against out-of-sorts Genoa.

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Interesting thing is that Genoa finished the previous league campaign just four points behind Fiorentina, and they are now already 22 points adrift of their next opponents. This goes to show that the Rossoblu have shown absolutely no improvement from last season, so no wonder they are now fighting for their lives. The good run of results that saw them pick up quite a few points in February was mostly due to the impact of new coach Davide Ballardini, but the team didn’t need a lot of time to return to their usual performances. Back to back defeats to Roma and Milan saw Genoa slip further down the league standings and they now sit just two points clear of the relegation zone. With the players now very low on confidence and several important footballers out of contention, the Rossoblu cannot be expected to avoid defeat at fortress that is Artemio Franchi.