Carrarese vs Fiorentina: Have a match thread

Back in action | Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

After motoring past Serie D outfit Grosseto yesterday in a surprisingly ill-tempered display, Fiorentina plays the second of its back-to-back friendlies against Serie B’s Carrarese. Stefano Pioli trotted out what was clearly his second choice XI at the Carlo Zecchini, but has upped the level today against the Marmiferi.

Yep, it’s our first chance to see the Viola starters work together in a game situation, although Albert Guðmundsson’s out with a minor knock and Rolando Mandragora and Mattia Viti

are absent as well. Amir Richardson is back from his family issue and goes straight into the starting lineup. The interest is the role of the midfielders: Nicolò Fagioli will work as the regista, while Richardson and Ndour provide running and muscle alongside. It’s also fascinating that Jacopo Fazzini gets a chance in a more attacking role, rather than as a mezzala with Lucas Beltrán supporting Kean.

Made using Share My Tactics

It’s only preseason, of course, and none of these decisions really mean anything. Pioli’s probably trying to get a better sense of what these guys can do, letting them stretch their wings a bit so that he has a better idea who can fill which role in a pinch. With the exceptions of Guðmundsson and Mandragora, this is the starting XI at the moment.

For Carrarese’s part, keep an eye on Viola loanees Tommaso Rubino and Filippo Distefano; the former’s taking his first steps as a professional, while the latter’s coming off a season lost to injury. They’re joined by a couple other former Fiorentina youth standouts in Julián Illanes and Leonardo Capezzi, too, so hopefully the tempers will be tamped down a bit during these guys’ reunion.

The game kicks off in half an hour at the Stadio di Marmi in Carrarra.

More from violanation.com:

• BatiGol Weekly 52: New Year's Eve
• Transfer Friday: If it don't work out
• Fiorentina calls initial squad to Moena
• Fiorentina closing in on Ondrej Duda
• A brief list of things more likely than Borja Valero's departure
• Transfer Tuesday: It really tied the room together
• Tottenham Hotspur: an invitation to pity