High flying Fiorentina entertain mid-table Udinese on one of the last matchdays before the winter break looking to keep the heat on Napoli and the Scudetto dream alive.
La Viola haven't won in two
Paulo Sousa's men come into the game on a two game drawing streak and will no doubt be hoping to come away with maximum points when they face Stefano Colantuano's zebrette.
Fiorentina by far have been one of the best sides in Serie A this term and deservedly sit in third place going into the weekend. Prior to their drawing streak they bounced back from two consecutvie defeats against Napoli and Roma respectively with three victories of their own in a row. Firstly they eased past a struggling disorientated Hellas Verona side before hammering minnows Frosinone 4-1 and the run ended with a 2-0 win over Sampdoria.
Travelling Udinese will use midweek win momentum
Udinese overcame fellow top flight outfit Atalanta in the fourth round of the Coppa Italia 3-1 on Wednesday night and as a result have set up a tie with Lazio in the coming weeks in the round of 16.
Their league campaign has been plagued by inconsistency and despite the plucky opening day victory over Juventus they have ultimately failed to find themselves solidly fighting for the Europa League as expected. In recent weeks, they've saw off both Sampdoria - albeit only narrowly and Chievo Verona whom they left it late against with Cyril Thereau's 81st minute strike deciding the exciting 3-2 victory last weekend.
Injuries plentiful for Udinese
Udinese can perhaps blame their incosistency on their long injury which may reduce to four come match day. Alexander Merkel who has been injured since September isn't expected back for another few months yet alongside Duvan Zapata who is in a similar position. Guilherme and Panagiotis Kone will also not make an appearance with both not expected back 'til later this month to early next year. The Bianconeri can however rejoice at the fact defensive duo Thomas Heurtaux and Molla Wague will be returning for the game, whether they start or not is a different matter.
Udinese Predicted Starting XI: Meret - Danilo, Wague, Pasquale - Ali Adnan, Badu, Marquinho, Fernandes, Widmer - Di Natale, Thereau
La Viola have just one casualty for the game in Jakub Blaszczykowski however, the loanee may just make the subs bench leaving the Stadio Artemi Franchi side injury free.
Fiorentina Predicted Starting XI: Tatarusanu - Astori, Roncaglia, Rodriguez - Marcos Alonso, Badelj, Vecino, Bernardeschi - Borja Valero, Ilicic - Kalinic
Fiorentina frontline is powerful
Fiorentina Key Player - Nikola Kalinic - The Croatian international is the clubs top scorer by quite some way with five goals seperating himself and next top scorer Josip Ilicic. Fiorentina on the whole are the league's second highest scorers and the aforementioned duo will be equally as dangerous for the Udinese defence. Add Barcelona target Federico Bernardeschi and lynch pin Borja Valero to the mix and you've one of the most lethal attacks going forward in the league this year.
Udinese Key Player - Cyril Thereau - Thereau has been the clubs go to man for goals for the most part this term and he will need to render up some serious magic if Udinese are to come out on top aginst the team with the joint best defensive record in the league.