Chievo Verona vs Fiorentina 27/01/19

27 January 2019

An in-trouble Fiorentina side travel to the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi to take on rock-bottom Chievo Verona searching for their first Serie A win after three consecutive failures (D2, L1).

The hosts have been written off not a long ago, but five points in as many games have shown there is a glimmer of hope they can dodge the Serie A relegation. Still, the Flying Donkeys have a long way to go before reaching the safe territory as they currently trail 17th-placed Empoli by nine points. Chievo’s only league win has arrived at in front of their home supporters, but they’ve had a little success in the remaining nine home outings (W1, D4, L5). A lack of creativity in the final third has emerged as their main problem considering the Yellow and Blues scored just 14 goals in the opening 20 Serie A fixtures, which is the second-lowest goalscoring record in the Italian top tier. The one thing that can encourage Domenico Di Carlo is that his defense managed three clean sheets in the last eight Serie A clashes, conceding over 1.5 goals per match three times though.

Meanwhile, the visitors come into this encounter after racking up a seven-game road unbeaten run across all competitions (W2, D5). However, goals have been in short supply whenever the Viola went away from Florence. Eight of Fiorentina’s previous ten road games have produced under 2.5 goals, with the Lilies scoring over 1.5 goals per match just twice in the process. Silvio Pioli’s men have secured only two wins in their last 13 Serie A outings, playing out eight draws in that period. Fiorentina’s main strength is their defense that has conceded just under 1.5 goals per match 12 times in their previous 15 competitive games. Too bad that attack failed to keep up the pace, as Fiorentina forwards scored over 1.5 goals per match just five times during the sequence.