Preview: Hellas Verona vs Fiorentina - prediction, team news, lineups

With eight games left to preserve their top-flight status, Fiorentina will visit relegation-haunted Hellas Verona on Saturday evening.

While Hellas seem to be losing their latest fight for Serie A survival, the Viola were pulling away from danger when international football intervened.

Match preview

Fresh from a midweek victory in the Conference League - which booked their place in this year's quarter-finals - Fiorentina finished their busy March schedule with a testing home game against Inter Milan.

The Viola fell behind within one minute, but Cher Ndour's second-half strike proved enough to salvage one precious point, boosting their survival hopes and frustrating the Scudetto favourites.

A 4-1 victory over fellow strugglers Cremonese had previously eased the pressure on Paolo Vanoli's side; yet, despite a clear improvement in recent weeks, they remain within two points of the drop zone.

Fiorentina's tally of 20 points from 13 league games this calendar year includes nine gleaned from the last five away fixtures, which bodes well for their trip to Stadio Bentegodi.

However, the Tuscan club have also conceded in each of their last 12 top-flight away matches - at an average of almost two goals per game - and their last clean sheet on the road dates back to September.

Now set to visit Verona - then travel to London for the first leg of a Conference League clash with Crystal Palace - Vanoli will be keen to improve that dismal record.

Ahead of Saturday's showdown, Verona have won both of the last two league meetings, and they now need to post three straight wins against Fiorentina for the first time in Italy's top flight.

Short of a miraculous late revival, the Gialloblu seem to be Serie B-bound, as they lie nine points shy of safety with just eight rounds remaining.

In that context, losing at home to a direct rival would prove costly - particularly as they must still play both Milan clubs, Juventus, Como and Roma between now and late May.

Making negligible impact, interim coach Paolo Sammarco has claimed just four points from seven games so far, following a 1-0 loss to Atalanta just before the international break.

Not only have his Hellas side failed to score in their last two matches, but they continue to leak goals at the other end: 27 have been conceded in 2026, and only rock-bottom Pisa have a worse record overall.

Hellas Verona Serie A form:

L L L W L L

Fiorentina Serie A form:

W W L D W D

Fiorentina form (all competitions):

L D W W W D

Team News

Fiorentina could have a selection issue at right-back, where both Dodo and Nicolo Fortini are doubts, while key midfielder Rolando Mandragora and reserve goalkeeper Luca Lezzerini are still sidelined.

In better news for Vanoli, on-loan winger Manor Solomon recovered from an injury during the international period and could even start this weekend.

Moise Kean should lead the line, after defying a persistent shin problem to score in his sixth straight Italy appearance on Tuesday - albeit the Azzurri still failed to make the 2026 World Cup.

Kean has previously scored five times against Verona - including his only Serie A hat-trick - while he also registered four goals for them while on loan at the Bentegodi eight years ago.

Verona's main marksman Gift Orban bagged a match-winning brace in the reverse fixture, but he is currently on a six-game goal drought.

As a result, the Nigerian must resist competition from Amin Sarr and Kieron Bowie to spearhead the hosts' attack.

Despite the two-week hiatus, Sammarco still has a significant absence list: Suat Serdar will be missing for several months, while Sandi Lovric, Domagoj Bradaric and Armel Bella-Kotchap all remain doubts.

Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:

Montipo; Edmundsson, Nelsson, Valentini; Belghali, Harroui, Gagliardini, Akpa-Akpro, Frese; Bowie, Orban

Fiorentina possible starting lineup:

De Gea; Parisi, Pongracic, Ranieri, Gosens; Ndour, Fagioli, Brescianini; Solomon, Kean, Gudmundsson

We say: Hellas Verona 1-2 Fiorentina

These sides only have five clean sheets apiece in Serie A this season, so it is fair to assume both should score.

Fiorentina's attack is more menacing, while Verona have won just once in front of their fans so far - another home defeat would surely condemn them to the drop.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.