Fiorentina vs Rigas Futbola Skola Match Analysis and Prediction

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Fiorentina kick off their Europa Conference League campaign on Thursday when they play host to Rigas Futbola Skola at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

The visitors secured their spot in the competition through an unbeaten run in the qualifiers and will be looking to kick off their quest for European glory on a high.

Fiorentina will feel disappointed not to have come away with all three points once again as they could only salvage a point against Juventus in a 1-1 draw in the Serie A last weekend.

After trailing to Arkadiusz Milik’s ninth-minute opener, Ivory Coast international Christian Kouame restored parity in the 25th minute before Luka Jovic squandered his 44th-minute penalty and a chance to turn the game around.

Fiorentina now turn their attention to the Conference League, where they earned their spot in the group stages of the competition through a 2-1 aggregate win over Dutch outfit FC Twente in the qualifying playoffs.

Vincenzo Italiano’s side head into Thursday on a run of five consecutive matches without a win across all competitions, drawing four and losing once since their 2-1 victory over Twente in the first leg of the Conference League qualifiers on August 18.

Meanwhile, Rigas FS failed to move into second place in the Latvian Virsliga as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Riga FC when the sides met at the LNK Sporta Parks last Sunday.

Viktors Morozs’ side were previously on a three-game winning run across all competitions, including a 5-0 victory over Grobina on September 1, a result which saw them earn their spot in the final of the 2022-23 Latvian Cup final.

Rigas FS now turn their attention to the Conference League, where they enjoyed an unbeaten qualifying run and defeated Linfield on penalties in the playoff round after a 3-3 aggregate draw.

Fiorentina vs Rigas Futbola Skola head to head

These two teams have not previously met on any occasion and this will their first meeting in the Europa Conference League group stages.

Fiorentina latest home form

Fiorentina have recently been on a good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their eight most recent matches. They played out a 1-1 draw with Juventus in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 10 goals and conceded four.

Fiorentina 4-0 Triestina 23/07/22

Fiorentina 3-2 Cremonese 14/08/22

Fiorentina 2-1 Twente 18/08/22

Fiorentina 0-0 Napoli 28/08/22

Fiorentina 1-1 Juventus 03/09/22

Fiorentina latest away form

Fiorentina have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having been winless in their nine most recent matches. They were beaten 1-0 by Udinese in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored two goals and conceded six.

Galatasaray 2-1 Fiorentina 31/07/22

Real Betis 3-1 Fiorentina 06/08/22

Empoli 0-0 Fiorentina 21/08/22

Twente 0-0 Fiorentina 25/08/22

Udinese 1-0 Fiorentina 31/08/22

Rigas Futbola Skola latest home form

Rigas FS have recently been on a relatively good run of form at home, having been unbeaten in their four most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Riga FC in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded eight.

Rigas FS 2-3 Super Nova 07/08/22

Rigas FS 2-2 Linfield 18/08/22

Rigas FS 2-2 Valmeira 21/08/22

Rigas FS 5-0 Grobina 01/09/22

Rigas FS 1-1 Riga 04/09/22

Rigas Futbola Skola latest away form

Rigas FS have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having won each of their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Liepaja 2-1 in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 12 goals and conceded four.

Tukums 0-2 Rigas FS 30/07/22

Hibernians 1-3 Rigas FS 11/08/22

Tokums 1-4 Rigas FS 14/08/22

Linfield 1-1(P) Rigas FS 25/08/22

Liepaja 1-2 Rigas FS 29/08/22

Fiorentina news

Fiorentina will take to the pitch without Brazilian defender Igor Julio, who will serve a one-game suspension after picking up a red card in the playoffs second leg against Twente.

In his absence, Lucas Martinez Quarta should come into the side to form a centre-back partnership with star defender Nikola Milenkovic.

Rigas Futbola Skola news

Morozs could name a similar side to the one which played Riga FC, where we could see a back four of Vladislavs Sorokins, Ziga Lipuscek, Vitalijs Jagodinskis and Petr Mares.

Brazilian forward Deocleciano should spearhead the attack once again, alongside striker Andrej Ilic, who scored five goals in seven appearances last month.

Prediction and Odds

Fiorentina head into the midweek contest looking to end their winless run and kickstart a fine run of form after struggling in the opening stages of the season.

Considering the gulf in quality between the teams, we are backing the Italian side to come away with a comfortable opening-day win.

Odds: 1 1.69 X 2.00 2 2.25