As Fiorentina takes on promoted Venezia at Stadio Franchi on Sunday, the team looking to earn maximum points after two draws to begin the new campaign.
The visitors were defeated by Lazio on their return to the top division, while the Viola played out a thrilling six-goal thriller in Europe following a draw on the first day of Serie A.
When Fiorentina returned to European action on Thursday night, they had to mount another comeback after depending on captain Cristiano Biraghi to bail them out of trouble against Parma, securing a 1-1 draw last week with a signature free-kick.
The Viola, who had finished as the Europa Conference League finalists the previous two seasons, fell behind Puskas Academy by two goals in the first leg of their playoff match when Riccardo Sottil tied the score just before halftime.
Lucas Martinez Quarta and summer acquisition Moise Kean scored two more goals for the hosts after that, but a late equalizer puts their chances of participating in the Conference League this season in jeopardy.
Prior to a challenging journey to Hungary the following week, Fiorentina has to make a return to domestic play. There, they will try to avoid losing their opening two league games for the first time since 2019.
Fans at Stadio Franchi will be hoping for an improvement over the team’s eighth-place finish from the previous season, and new coach Raffaele Palladino is already under pressure to provide three points in front of their eager audience.
This weekend, history will undoubtedly be on his side as the Viola have defeated Venezia at home in each of their previous five Serie A games, giving up only two goals and preserving three clean sheets.
Before their journey to Tuscany, the visitors might draw inspiration from past performance, as they have more victories and goals scored against Fiorentina than any other team in their top-flight history.
On the other hand, another tendency that may worry Venezia supporters is that the Lagunari have lost their opening away game of the Serie A season three times and drawn eleven times overall.
Following Paolo Vanoli’s departure to Torino as promotion-winning coach, the Venice club made a comeback to the top division of Italian football through the playoffs last season. Eusebio Di Francesco, a former Frosinone manager, was invited to take over as coach.
The former now leads the Lagunari in their anticipated quest for survival, which appears to be a season of difficulty after almost missing out on keeping his previous team afloat in May.
After being promoted to the second division, Venezia lost to Lazio in their Serie A comeback after suffering a humiliating Coppa Italia loss to second-tier Brescia.
The Arancioneroverdi lost 3-1 in the capital last week, after taking an unexpected lead thanks to Magnus Andersen at Stadio Olimpico.
