Serie A Preview: Fiorentina vs Napoli – Team News, Line-ups & Prediction | OneFootball

Saturday’s Serie A action caps off at Stadio Artemio Franchi as Fiorentina and Napoli go head-to-head in a handsomely-looking showdown. The two teams with European ambitions have kicked off the 2025/26 season on vastly different notes.

Stefano Pioli returned to his old stomping ground after six years. After a disappointing season-long stint at Al-Nassr, the 59-year-old came back to Italian football this summer. Indeed, Fiorentina sacked Raffaele Palladino at the end of last season despite securing European qualification.

Pioli’s return was supposed to turn Fiorentina’s fortunes around. Instead of progress, it’s been stagnation so far. After conceding a last-gasp equalizer in a 1-1 draw at Cagliari on the opening Serie A weekend, La Viola slumped to a scoreless stalemate at Torino on the eve of September’s international break.

Keen to get off the mark, they host Napoli at the Franchi in one of the weekend’s standout fixtures. In stark contrast to Fiorentina’s stuttering start under Pioli, Napoli got their title-defending campaign off to a flyer. Kevin De Bruyne scored on his debut as the Partenopei eased past newly promoted Sassuolo 2-0 in their curtain-raising outing.

However, Napoli left it late to beat Cagliari in their first match at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa netted a 95th-minute winner to maintain Napoli’s 100% start and keep them at the top of the table. Yet, the visitors must avoid another wasteful performance in front of goal if they’re to put three points on the board here.

Match Preview

Fiorentina

Despite their underwhelming league start, Fiorentina can draw confidence from qualifying for the UEFA Conference League on the back of a 6-2 aggregate win of Ukrainian minnows Polissya Zhytomyr. However, another stalemate here would see La Viola equal an unwanted piece of the club’s history.

They’re standing on the cusp of a third consecutive draw at the beginning of a new top-flight season for only the third time – a feat they also achieved last term. Confidence stems from Fiorentina’s dominant form on home turf. Indeed, they’ve emerged victorious from seven of their nine most recent Serie A matches at the Franchi (D1, L1).

Delivering action from the get-go, Fiorentina opened the scoring by the 15th minute in five of those seven triumphs, highlighting the potential for a quick-fire start. Taking an early lead could prove crucial as the hosts bid to arrest a dreadful seven-game winless home league streak against Napoli in Serie A (D3, L4). Indeed, they last beat the Partenopei in Florence in April 2018.

Napoli

In addition to their formidable run on Fiorentina’s home ground, Napoli pulled off a league double over La Viola last season, scoring multiple goals in both victories. Despite playing on the road, Conte’s charges are in pole position to make it three wins out of three at the start of the season, having won six of their last seven league matches immediately following an international break (L1).

Upholding that impressive record would be a massive confidence boost for Napoli ahead of their opening UEFA Champions League clash against Manchester City next week. Defensive solidity could inspire the visitors to another success in Tuscany. They have kept a clean sheet on five of their last six Serie A travels.

It’s also worth noting that they thrashed Fiorentina 3-0 in this corresponding fixture last season. Scoring first could again be decisive, especially considering that only one of Napoli’s nine previous Serie A games saw both teams on the scoresheet.

Team News

Fiorentina may be without Albert Gudmundsson, who picked up a bizarre injury during the international break. He sprained his ankle while celebrating a goal for Iceland. Fellow forward Christian Kouame is a long-term absentee. Therefore, either Edin Dzeko or Roberto Piccoli will join forces with Moise Kean in attack.

On the other hand, Napoli cannot call upon talismanic striker Romelu Lukaku. With the Belgian star unavailable for selection, Lorenzo Lucca will again lead the line. Meanwhile, Amir Rrahmani is out with a muscle injury, meaning Sam Beukema and Alessandro Buongiorno will likely be the starting center-back pairing.

Fiorentina vs Napoli Potential Starting Line-ups

Fiorentina (3-5-2): De Gea; Comuzzo, Pongracic, Ranieri; Dodo, Fagioli, Sohm, Mandragora, Gosens; Dzeko, Kean

Napoli (4-1-4-1): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Buongiorno, Olivera; Lobotka; Politano, Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay; Lucca

Fiorentina vs Napoli Prediction

Fiorentina will not go down without a fight, but we expect them to eventually succumb. A fiercely contested battle is on the cards, and that’s where Conte’s men tend to thrive. Therefore, we back the visitors to leave Florence with a hard-earned victory.