Fiorentina vs Basel predictions: Viola can brush aside Basel
- Fiorentina are the top scorers in the Europa Conference League this season
- Fiorentina have kept one home clean sheet in the Europa Conference League
- Recommended bet: Fiorentina to win & over 2.5 goals
Basel’s unlikely bid to reach a first European final faces its biggest test yet when the Swiss side heads to Florence to face Fiorentina.
The Viola, who themselves have only one piece of European silverware to their name and haven’t reached a final since 1990, have enjoyed a strong second half to the season.
As well as reaching the Europa Conference League semi-finals, they have also secured passage through to the Coppa Italia final, leaving them well-placed for an unprecedented double.
The Italians are the 2/5 favourites with LiveScore Bet to qualify for another final, but Basel have revelled in their role as underdogs in Europe this season, as they seek to claim another scalp after beating Nice in the last round.
Team news
Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano is hopeful Arthur Cabral will be fit to feature after he missed the weekend loss to Napoli, with goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu being the only other injury concern.
Lucas Martinez Quarta was suspended for the Napoli game but is eligible to face Basel.
Basel have concerns over defenders Andy Pelmard and Riccardo Calafiori after both missed the 2-0 loss to Zurich at the weekend.
The duo could join fellow defender Arnau Comas (thigh), and Fabian Frei (back) in watching from home.
The stats
Fiorentina have romped through the Europa Conference League, winning nine of their last 10 matches and eliminating Lech Poznan, Sivasspor and Braga in the knockout rounds.
The Italians have blown several of those sides away, scoring four in each of their away knockout games to take their tally to 32 for the season in UEFA’s third club competition.
Luka Jovic and Cabral are currently the competition’s joint-top scorers with six goals each and they face a Basel side that has kept just one clean sheet in its last 12 Conference League away games.
Basel have eliminated Trabzonspor, Slovan Bratislava and Nice in the knockout stage to reach only their second European semi-final and can take heart from an unbeaten record against Fiorentina (W1 D1).
The Swiss outfit have netted exactly twice in their last five European matches and have only failed to score once in their last nine games in the competition.
Prediction
Fiorentina’s first European campaign since the 2016-17 season has exceeded expectations so far and is unlikely to end at the semi-final stage.
Although Basel have performed well in the Europa Conference League, overall it has been a tough season for Heiko Vogel’s men, who are well off the pace in the Swiss Super League due to an inability to string together results.
They were somewhat fortunate to get the better of Nice in the quarter-finals and without a couple of key defenders, they could be exposed by Fiorentina’s potent frontline.
Fiorentina have been scoring goals for fun in Europe, but that is combined with a leaky defence that has conceded in six of their seven home games in this season’s Conference League, while nine of their last 10 games in the competition have gone over the 2.5 goals mark.
Although Fiorentina’s form doesn’t look great on paper - one win in seven - performances have been better than results suggest and the best bet for the first leg of this tie is to pair a home win with over 2.5 goals.
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