[Gains]

Preview from Channel4:

Serie A Week 25
Fiorentina - Livorno
Stadio Franchi

Fiorentina’s chase for a Champions League spot has taken a turn for the worse in the past month, so they will be relishing the opportunity to beat their Tuscans neighbours Livorno on Wednesday.

The Amaranto will be hoping to leave the Stadio Artemio Franchi unbeaten, but it will be a tough task for them. Last year’s encounter ended with a 2-1 score in favour of the locals.

Fiorentina have suffered a few hiccups in the last four weeks. The Viola may be doing well in the UEFA Cup, but they were defeated by Champions League contenders Milan and Roma. The Gigliati are now fourth, level of points with the Rossoneri.

Livorno haven’t won a game in the last five and are slipping down the table. The Labronici are involved in the relegation scuffle and were defeated by Napoli 2-1 last weekend.

Adrian Mutu picked up a knee injury at the Olimpico on Sunday afternoon, which means Coach Cesare Prandelli will have to do without his star-man. Mutu’s absence adds up to the long injury list formed by Manuel Pasqual, Mario Santana, Alessandro Potenza and Pablo Osvaldo.

Midfielder Massimo Gobbi may once again be asked to play left-back. Per Kroldrup should be reconfirmed, but Stefano Dainelli could come into contention. Fabio Liverani will replace Martin Jorgensen in the midfield.

The Viola trident should be formed by Franco Semioli, Papa Waigo and Giampaolo Pazzini. Christian Vieri is suspended while Daniele Cacia may not be included in the starting XI, but could step in during the second part of the game.

Amaranto boss Giancarlo Camolese is having a bad time and will be missing Francesco Tavano, who is struggling to recover from an injury. Camolese is set to line-up a 3-5-2 formation.

Nico Pulzetti should start, while Tommaso Vailatti may replace Vidigal. Starlet Alessandro Diamanti scored a fantastic free-kick against Napoli and will partner Diego Tristan up front. Erjon Bogdani will instead sit on the bench.

Keep an eye on: Giampaolo Pazzini (Fiorentina) – Mutu and Vieri are out so the 23-year-old striker will be leading the Viola trident. It is a great chance for him to prove his importance to the team.

Last season: Fiorentina 2-1 Livorno

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Midweek battle and first match waiting for Mutu to recover. I really wish for Montolivo to step up his game and prove that he can lead us to victory while Mutu is injured. I think we can expect what would happen in the next four weeks judging from this match.

The good thing is that Livorno is on a winless streak so we should attack and kill the game before they become desperate to win.

 

[HuntKop]

Every preview has a different starting lineup at the front.

I've seen Santana, Pazzini, Osvaldo, Semioli, and Cacia included in different squadlists. It really should be interesting to see who runs out in this one.

 

[Pavel]

For me would be fine:
Frey, Ufo, Pasqual, Di Costa, Gamberini, Donadel, Liverani, Kuz, Semioli, Osvaldo, Pazzini.

I really hope the portugese guy will get some minutes soon.

 

[Maarek]

According to Channel4 Prandelli advised that he plans to use Osvaldo again. He did great game against Livorno in September so I hope to see something good again.

 

[Gianni Schicchi]

For the love of God, Pazzini! How could you miss that...?

 

[Gianni Schicchi]

Catania - Milan 1-1 arty:

 

[nikofv]

Semioli was injured, apart from that this was a pretty good round for us.

 

[zoric]

That challenge from Pasquale was stupid as hell, but then again, he got injured himself..

 

[Gianni Schicchi]

Yep, the hero of the day, Papa Waigo, made sure that this sack of shit got what he deserved. Hopefully Semioli isn't too badly injured since he now has found his form.

Donadel picked up a yellow card and will miss the clash against giuve...

Kuz, man of the match again! Pathetic dive in the first half though...

EDIT: Semioli picked up the same injury as Mutu it seems...not yet known how serious it is.

http://www.fiorentina.it/notizia.asp?IDNotizia=58935

 

[GICA]

Good victory. 4th place again.

 

[Kadainja]

more impressed by papa waigo by each minute that passes, his speed is a fantastic asset and he looks hungry!!

 

[CRSvideo]

Exellent round for us. We get a win and both Milan and Juve get ties. Unfortunately this game puts us in a bad spot going into our match with Juve this weekend. Donadel misses that match due to card accumulation and I think Pazzini also. Semioli out with an injury as well. We're getting pretty thin. And I can't stress how good a win will be in that match for us. If we win this weekend we'll be only a point behind Juve and we bring them into the mix with us and Milan for the CL spots. If we loose however we fall further behind them and further will likely be jumped over by Milan. A win is highly unlikely (especially with all the injuries and suspensions), but man it would really help our cause.

 

[ViolaViola]

For how long is Santana out this time? Does anyone know?

 

[Maarek]

Bet365 stream I tried to watch was too bad but according to Eurosport.com seemed to me that Livorno had like 10 man defence yesterday. First 25 minutes possession was 75-25 and final 67-33. We had 18 shots against their 4 and 6 on target from us and 0 by them
I started to think beginning of second half that everything is going wrong again as Pato scored for Milan and Livorno holded back well but Papa Waigo and Spinesi made our day some time later.:thumbsup:

And Parma 2-0 win against Udinese also makes me feel good. They need to move out from relegation zone.:smileani:

 

[Pavel]

Very good job, now let's bring 3 points from Gobbi! :horny:

 

[Gains]

Great result as apparently, all other teams than us in the top table only managed to get draws.

Apparently from Channel4's match report, they mentioned Pazzini will be out for the next game because of card accumulation, which is unfortunate considering his tendency to score goals against you know what. Good thing is Nedved was sent off because of hair pulling :howler: so they are not with a full squad as well.

Also from that statistics, I can feel that we should be able to manage even without Mutu. Won't be too confident, but if we keep the form, we should be able to go higher.

 

[Pavel]

Fiorentina.it reports that Pazzini wasn't booked, so we should see him on Sunday.

I'm not too confident, I just demand this win!

 

[tahoma]

Highlights here:

http://www.mediamax.com/violavideos/Hosted/0708/080227_Fiorentina_1-0_Livorno.zip

 

[Kopite]

well done viola .. after milan drew v their new rival (Ctaniap) , the viola have come back to the 4th position again .
keep your hard work .


congratulation to all viola fans .

 

[Gianni Schicchi]

Bet365 stream I tried to watch was too bad but according to Eurosport.com seemed to me that Livorno had like 10 man defence yesterday. First 25 minutes possession was 75-25 and final 67-33. We had 18 shots against their 4 and 6 on target from us and 0 by them
I started to think beginning of second half that everything is going wrong again as Pato scored for Milan and Livorno holded back well but Papa Waigo and Spinesi made our day some time later.:thumbsup:

And Parma 2-0 win against Udinese also makes me feel good. They need to move out from relegation zone.:smileani:

Yes, Livorno played a good old catenaccio that would have made Herrera himself proud. It's the most cynical team I've seen this season, and to be honest before Papa Waigo's goal we didin't have a lot of clear chances and had very difficult to break through their defence. After the goal we had at least six good opportunities for a second goal but wasted them, Pazzini the main culprit here.