Football Bet of the Day: Gialloblu to strengthen survival chances

Fiorentina clinched a crucial first-leg victory over Club Brugge in the Europa Conference League semi-final, but they could find themselves up against it when they visit a Verona side still striving for Serie A safety.

The hosts sit 15th in the table and only two points clear of Udinese in 18th, so they cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal in the final few weeks of the campaign.

Fiorentina led twice when Club Brugge came to town last week, but it was not until the 90th minute that they finally sealed their first-leg victory courtesy of a M’Bala Nzola goal.

However, the 3-2 scoreline does leave this tie balanced on a knife edge, and that could play into Verona’s hands as they look for a potentially crucial result.

La Viola, who are targeting a second successive Europa Conference League final after their defeat to West Ham last season, will have next week’s trip to Brugge in the back of their mind as they make the trip north to Verona and we could see plenty of changes as Vincenzo Italiano looks to keep his side fresh, while the hosts cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

I Gialloblu suffered a narrow defeat away to Lazio last weekend to leave them just two points above the Serie A drop zone, but they will be hopeful of bouncing back at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi this weekend.

Verona have taken points off Juventus, Sassuolo, Lecce, Cagliari, Atalanta and Udinese over the last few months and, despite their worrying league position, they have been tough to beat on home soil at times this season.

They have lost only three of their last 10 Serie A home games and have won on four occasions, including a 1-0 triumph in their last outing here, so they will be hoping to take advantage of a potentially tired and distracted Fiorentina outfit.

The visitors do not excel on their travels, either, with their last away trip ending in a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Atalanta in the Coppa Italia.

The Florence outfit have won just three of their last 15 away games in all competitions, and one of these was not a true away game as they beat Maccabi Haifa in Budapest, while another came against rock-bottom Salernitana.

Just five of their 14 Serie A wins this season have come on the road and, with Italiano expected to make a raft of changes with Fiorentina’s midweek European trip coming up, Verona could resign the visitors to an eighth away loss of the season as they look to strengthen their survival ambitions.

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