Serie A: Fiorentina v Empoli

Fiorentina v Empoli

Sunday Afternoon

Welcome back.

We resume the season after yet another break whereby we have spent the entire time at the top with no risk of losing the spot. It has been a slightly longer week than usual and I'm not really sure if it would be of benefit to us or not.

We come back to find ourselves top of the table even after the Roma match last night on a waterlogged pitch. This afternoon, we will see a sunny day in Florence and that should make for a feisty derby. It's awfully cold outside though and we'll probably see the players wearing gloves (possibly in addition to some black armbands).

It's nice that we're technically top of the table but we really need to go clear on points as often as we can and as clear as we can. It's really the only way we keep the other teams looking up.

The big news of the day, which I totally forgot to start a thread on, was that Jakub Blaszczykowski is out for a month. Does anybody know if Gelbrto Jr is available now? Sousa says he is. Anyway, even without Blaszczykowski, I think the team is stable enough to manage without his excellent contribution. It's possible that Marcos Alonso could move to the right, though Bernadeschi is the most likely option we will take as his contribution as a winger has improved.

It's a win we want. Sousa said at a press conference that "We want to pick up where we left off with the same desire to express ourselves and go for the win.”

“The results build conviction and allow us to work and play well and obviously increases the mental strength of the team,” he said.

That's clear enough.

Fiorentina 3-4-2-1:

Tatarasanu

Roncaglia - Gonzalo - Astori

Bernadeschi - Vecino - Badelj - Marcos Alonso

Valero - Rossi

Babacar


Maccarone - Pucciarelli

Saponara

Paredes - Diousse - Zielinski

Mario Rui - Costa - Tonelli - Laurini

Skorupski

Empoli 4-3-1-2:

This match is an afternoon 2pm kick off.

That's 3pm local time.


It's also 9am Boston, 1am Melbourne and 5pm Bahrain.

Make sure you tune into the Inter match later on if you're free.

Serie A: Fiorentina v Empoli