Serie A Fantasy: Fiorentina Preview and Top Picks

Serie A is on pause due to the international break. But, it won’t be long until it returns so we take a look the Fiorentina preview and top picks for their run ahead. To do this we bring in Fiorentina fan and Serie A Fantasy expert @dmpwright to take us through it.

Our Fiorentina preview and top picks could be hugely enlightening for Serie A Fantasy managers. The Italian side have a significant fixture swing, starting with Como next, so knowing if we should and how to invest could be key.

Fiorentina

There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Fiorentina coming into this season. Former Head Coach Vincenzo Italiano departed for Bologna in the summer. This came after taking the Viola to the Coppa Italia Final in 2022-2023 and consecutive Europa Conference League Finals, with the largely unproven Raffaele Palladino taking over after a promising showing at the helm of Monza.

The change of manager coincided with substantial squad turnover, with fan favourites Nikola Milenković, Jack Bonaventura and Nico González all moving on, and the likes of David De Gea, Yacine Adli, Albert Guðmundsson and Moise Kean joining the club.

Unsurprisingly given the turnover, Fiorentina made a stuttering start to the season. They were nearly embarrassed by Puskás Akadémia in the Europa League Conference Playoff and only won one of their first six league fixtures.

However, Palladino have turned things around. This has been since he switched from his preferred 3-5-2 formation to a four-at-the-back setup, a change that has seen Fiorentina win all but one of their games since the start of October and rise to third in the Serie A table, one point behind surprise league leaders Napoli.

Palladino’s men face some tricky upcoming fixtures, including games against Italiano’s Bologna, Inter and Juventus before the turn of the year. Don’t sleep on them as Fantasy options though, particularly given the form and price of their standout players.

Top Picks – David De Gea

I’ll admit I had reservations about signing De Gea once it became clear the move was going ahead. While it took him a few games to cement his place in the starting XI, the former Manchester United ‘keeper has been nothing short of a revelation. He makes plenty of saves and has already amassed 88 points – second only to Empoli’s Devis Vazquez – despite not starting a league game until Round 4.

Yann Sommer is probably the only goalkeeper I’d have over De Gea right now, mainly because he’s the safest route into the Inter defence. De Gea is currently €1.8 million cheaper than the Inter stopper though, which goes a long way to upgrading the rest of your squad.

Robin Gosens

Left-back Gosens has already chipped in with two goals and two assists in the league since joining from Union Berlin, and currently ranks sixth for npxG+xA among all defenders (0.31 per 90). His right-sided counterpart Dodô is also an option, coming in €0.6 million cheaper at the time of writing and offering slightly greater security of minutes. Personally, I’d still go for Gosens due to his superior attacking upside.

Albert Guðmundsson

Another of Fiorentina’s new signings, Albert Guðmundsson, is also worthy of consideration. Off-field issues and injuries have limited the Iceland international’s minutes this term, but Guðmundsson has looked every bit the player he was at Genoa last season when he has featured.

He comes with a premium price tag (he’ll set you back €2.8 million more than Moise Kean at the time of writing), but with penalty duty in his favour, that could be a premium worth paying.

Moise Kean

If I could only have one Fiorentina player, Moise Kean would be the one. With only one year left on his contract and no league goals last season, the prevailing feeling was that Juventus had won the lottery when Fiorentina paid €13 million for Kean this summer.

Fast forward four months and it looks like the Viola have got one over the Old Lady once again in their transfer dealings. Kean has already bagged eight league goals this season, including a hattrick against Verona in the last round, and, despite Mateo Retegui’s heroics, stands clear as the best value forward in the game in my opinion. Given his and Fiorentina’s form, and at only €5.4 million, you can’t go wrong with Kean.

Best of the rest – Andrea Colpani

One of Palladino’s go-to men from his time at Monza, Andrea Colpani, is another player with bags of potential. His underlying stats are ok (npxG+xA of 0.38 per 90) and, at only €6.2 million, he is budget friendly and can easily slot in as a third or fourth midfielder.

He’s not a focal point of Fiorentina’s attack as he was for Monza though and, outside of his 21-pointer against Lecce, he hasn’t delivered much Fantasy wise to date. One to monitor for now.