13 hours ago
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AC Milan are currently preparing for their Sunday encounter with Fiorentina, and while they are big favourites based on the standings, La Viola are in a good moment.
Massimiliano Allegri and his men will be eager to bounce back after the 1-1 draw against Genoa on Thursday evening. On paper, they should be able to do so as Fiorentina are the next opponents, but getting too hung up on the points difference would be a huge mistake.
Fiorentina in 2025-26
➤ Manager: Paolo Vanoli (since November 7)
➤ Form (all comps): L-W-L-W-D
➤ Top scorer (Serie A): Rolando Mandragora and Moise Kean – 5
➤ Most assists (Serie A): Nicolo Fagioli – 3
➤ Injuries & suspensions: Lamptey and Dzeko.
As alluded to above, it’s been a shocking season for Fiorentina so far. After appointing Stefano Pioli in the summer, while keeping players such as Moise Kean and Pietro Comuzzo, the goal was definitely to fight for the European spots.
Pioli even hit back at Massimiliano Allegri for not including La Viola as a candidate for the top-four race, which didn’t exactly age well for the former Milan manager. In fairness to him, though, Allegri revealed earlier today that he just forgot to say Fiorentina.
In any case, after collecting just four points in the first ten games (four draws, so no win), Fiorentina announced the decision to part ways with Pioli. A few days later, Paolo Vanoli was confirmed as the new manager and started his tenure with two draws.
After that, however, the struggles returned with three defeats on the trot. It’s only in the last few weeks that La Viola have turned things around, winning two and drawing one of their last four games. In other words, they are taking on Milan during their best moment of the season.
As for the squad, as we said above, Vanoli has many good players at his disposal. Kean is the obvious star, but the likes of Luca Ranieri, Robert Gosens, Rolando Mandragora and Albert Gudmundsson are also experienced names in the league. Not to mention Comuzzo and Nicolo Fagioli.
Tariq Lamptey and the veteran Edin Dzeko are the only injured players too, so Vanoli doesn’t really have any excuses in terms of squad quality. The same could be said for Pioli though really, and he still struggled to get things going.
The above means that Milan will be up against a rather strong starting eleven. It’s the third time he’s mentioned here, we know, but Kean will obviously be the one to watch given just how much damage he can cause (to the opponents) on a good day.
The former Milan man Marco Brescianini will be on the bench, having joined the club just yesterday ago on an initial loan deal from Atalanta.
Predicted Fiorentina XI (4-1-4-1): De Gea; Dodo, Comuzzo, Pongracic, Gosens; Fagioli; Parisi, Mandragora, Sohm, Gudmundsson; Kean.
Predicted Fiorentina bench: Christensen, Lezzerini, Kuoadio, Ranieri, Fortini, Marì, Kospo, Nicolussi-Caviglia, Brescianini, Fazzini, Ndour, Piccoli, Kouame, Solomon.
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