Fiorentina has a chance to haul itself out of the relegation places at the expense of a rival for the drop this weekend when Cagliari (15th place with 22 points) comes to town, although the Sardinians are coming off a high following a win over Juventus last time out. The match will be played on Saturday, 24 January 2026, at 17:00 GMT/12:00 PM EST, at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in beautiful Firenze. The forecast calls for a fairly warm evening but potentially a rainy one.
Three things to watch for
1. Manor Solomon getting his first start
One of the best dynamics over
the past month or so has been the Paris-Dodô pairing on the right. They’ve regularly swapped positions and roles, with either one happy jetting infield while the other holds the width, and their mind meld has given opposing defenses a lot of headaches. Manor Solomon—the obvious replacement now that Parisi’s out for a couple weeks with a hamstring issue—probably won’t have that level of chemistry with Dodô right away, and as a right-footed player, he might not be as comfortable cutting inside.
To replicate Parisi’s impact, Solomon has two main tasks (you know, besides playing well). The first is to offer Dodô some cover. The fullback has been back to his best over the past few weeks, raiding forward to great effect, and that requires the winger ahead of him to sacrifice at times. If Solomon stays high and wide, it will fall to Rolando Mandragora to shuffle into that space, where Cagliari will target him on the break with the more athletic Semih Kiliçsoy. It’s not the funnest thing for a winger but the defensive side will be important.
The second task is width. Because Parisi’s left-footed, he naturally turns towards the center of the pitch. In contrast, the Solomon might stick to going down the line. If that’s the case, keeping him higher up out of possession might be a viable strategy to stretch Cagliari’s defense horizontally and open space for Roberto Piccoli. Part of Dodô‘s recent improvement has been Parisi opening space for the overlap, so if Solomon’s always hugging the touchline, Dodô will have to cut infield a lot. He can do that to good effect but he’s best in the wide areas, particularly in the final third.
2. The goddamn set piece defending
I harp on this ahead of every game and end up disappointed every time. Fiorentina has conceded 10 of 32 goals from set pieces, which is the highest proportion in Serie A. While that may seem to have improved of late, it’s more about opponent finishing than any improvements in that area. Part of it is that the Viola defense is just bad in the air (2nd-most headed goals conceded). Part of it is David de Gea staying glued to his line at all times rather than coming for the ball.
Marin Pongračić (much improved of late in general) is curiously bad in the air, which means the only average-to-above average aerial defenders on the team are Pietro Comuzzo, Robin Gosens, and maybe Cher Ndour and Roberto Piccoli. That’s a personnel issue which Paolo Vanoli can’t fix with any amount of drilling. He can try to minimize fouls in dangerous areas but that’s mitigation rather than solution. Maybe a radically different defensive strategy is the fix: instead of sitting deep in the box, for example, push everyone higher up and disrupt opponents’ timing at set pieces. That’s one example. There are other options too. But something’s got to change.
3. Yerry Mina’s shenanigans
I love Yerry Mina because he’s a box office defender, bursting at the seams with personality and always up to something. I’m sorry it didn’t work out in Florence for him but at least he gave everyone (except Josh Zirkzee’s nipple) some memories. He’s the sort of lumbering, lovable defender that always endears themselves to a fan base for his willingness to enact violence and his humor in doing so.
And here, he’ll be up against Albert Guðmundsson. I can’t think of a greater contrast in physical force and I’m intrigued to see how it pans out: Guðmundsson’s quick enough to run circles around him but Mina could simply overpower the Viola winger. Either way, expect the big Colombian to go deep into his bag of tricks to deal with a speedier, wispier opponent.
Possible lineups
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Ted’s Memorial Blind Guess Department
The bookies lean towards Fiorentina pretty heavily, from what I can tell. In fact, I’d say too heavily, given the relative positions in the table. Cagliari’s coming off a massive win and is the exact sort of team that gives the Viola trouble. I don’t want to dismiss the momentum Vanoli and company have built up over the past month but the team still feels very fragile to me. The hosts are certainly favorites but those odds are tilted towards them too much if you’re actually planning to bet real money.
I’m not so I predict a 2-1 Fiorentina win. Cagliari leads Serie A in yellow cards and is 2nd in total fouls so don’t expect a beautiful game as the visitors sit deep and try to counter attack. I feel like we’re due a Mandragora banger so I’ll tap him for the opener, with Gosens adding a second with a header. Facing a 2-goal deficit, Fabio Pisacane will throw on an extra striker and the Viola will wilt under the bombardment, eventually conceding late to Mina (of course) to set up a tense finish. With both Andrea Belotti and Michael Folorunsho out, though, the Sardinians won’t have enough reti di ex to tie it up.
Forza Viola!
