Juventus are sixth in the Serie A table with 31 points from 17 matches. Fiorentina is fifth. They also have 31 points, but have played one match fewer than their hosts.
A 2-1 win over Monza on Sunday slightly lifted the pressure off under-fire Juve boss Thiago Motta. The victory ended a run of four successive draws, meaning the Old Lady now has a Serie A record of seven wins, ten draws and no defeats this season.
It also saw Juventus extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 13. The last time Motta’s team tasted defeat was at home to Stuttgart (1-0) in the Champions League on October 22nd (Matchday 3).
The problem for Motta and Juventus isn’t so much not losing, it’s not winning. There have simply been too many draws. And as a result, the fans are becoming restless.
A 2-0 home win over Manchester City on Matchday 6 of the Champions League was a huge positive earlier in December.
But that massive win was followed by another disappointing Serie A draw, this time at home to lowly Venezia. Juve needed a 95th-minute spot kick from Dusan Vlahovic to rescue a point.
Juventus bounced back with a 4-0 win over Cagliari in the Coppa Italia three days later. And then on Sunday came the 2-1 victory over Monza.
The win wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t convincing. Goal-shy Monza had more shots (17-16) than Juve. But a win is a win. And at the moment, Thiago Motta will take them any way they come.
As for Fiorentina, they come into this match after two successive defeats.
The Viola have had a strong season, winning nine, drawing four, and losing three. But they have just run into a patch of poor form.
An eight-match Serie A winning streak ended on Matchday 16 when they lost 1-0 away at Bologna. That defeat was followed by a second loss on Monday in Matchday 17, this time, 2-1 at home to Udinese.
Overall, things have gone well for new head coach Raffaele Palladino this season. The club spent Christmas just three points outside the Champions League places with a match in hand on fourth-place Lazio. They are also third in their Europa Conference League group after six matches.
The Fiorentina hierarchy and fans would likely have taken their current position had they been offered it at the start of the season. The big question now is if they can build on it as we approach the second half of the term.
