Two strong sides from Italian football compete in their final Serie A encounter of the calendar year 2016 on Thursday. Fiorentina take on the heavyweights Napoli at the Artemio Franchi in Firenze, Italy, in their 18th league encounter of the season.
Napoli are currently third in the Serie A points table with 34 points and are below Juventus and Roma in the league. Fiorentina, meanwhile, are eighth with 26 points bagged so far.
Going by their recent form, the away side look the clear winners of the match. They have not lost their previous five Serie A games and have scored five goals in both of their previous matches, with the Belgian forward Dries Mertens finding a hot form at the moment, scoring seven goals over these two games.
Striker Arkadiusz Milik may be out of the match for Napoli owing to a knee injury but the presence of Mertens will definitely come as a major worry for Fiorentina, who have lost both their previous two Serie A games.
Mertens also has major back up from the likes of Lorenzo Insigne, Jose Callejon, and Marek Hamsik, to turn oodle amounts of pressure on the Fiorentina defence.
While the home team look the major underdogs, Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa remains optimistic. "We struggled to be competitive from start to finish. We have good quality, so we'll see in the match. I believe that our team can do it," Sousa has been quoted as saying by Football Italia.
"They're [Napoli are] a really well equipped team both defensively and offensively. They have individuals who can decide a game with one piece of play. We have to be consistent in both halves, with the ball at our feet."
Schedule
Fiorentina vs Napoli is scheduled to kick off at 7.45 pm GMT (1.15 am IST [Friday], 2.45 pm EST) on December 22.
Where to watch live
INDIA: TV: Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD. Live streaming: Sony Liv.
UK: TV: BT Sport 1. Live streaming: BT Sport Live.
USA: TV: Fubo TV. Live streaming: beIN Sports Connect.
ITALY: TV: Sky Calcio 1, Sky Sport 1 HD Italia. Live streaming: Sky Go Italia.
