Fiorentina will be searching for their opening win in the Conference League when they take a trip to Tynecastle Stadium to take on Hearts in the third round on Thursday night.
After a 4-0 battering by Basaksehir at Tynecastle, Hearts revived their Conference League hopes with a victory in Riga last time out.
The 2-0 success over Rigas Futbola Skola (RFS) saw them move up to the second place in Group A, three points behind Basaksehir at the top and two points above both RFS and Fiorentina. Therefore a win on Thursday could see Robbie Neilson’s side move to the summit of the group, which will strengthen their chances of advancing to the knockout stages.
However, they have a lot to amend as they head into the match of a 4-0 home defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership on the weekend.
Meanwhile Fiorentina are a big a name, but they haven’t been putting in many big performances this season. Vincenzo Italiano’s side have won just three of their 12 games this season and couldn’t even manage to see off RFS at home, drawing 1-1 with the minnows on the opening night of the Conference League.
They followed that up with a 3-0 defeat to Basaksehir and they now sit bottom of the group on one point. The Violas therefore will be desperate for a win on Thursday as they look to avoid making things more difficult for themselves in this competition.
Their form has picked up a little in Serie A, with a 2-0 win at home to Verona followed by a narrow 1-0 loss at leaders Atalanta on Sunday, but they still have much to work on.
Hearts vs Fiorentina head to head
This will be the first meeting between the two sides. Take a look at their previous results;
Home
- Hearts 0-4 Rangers
- Motherwell 0-3 Hearts
- RFS 0-2 Hearts
- Hearts 0-4 Basaksehir
- Livingston 1-0 Hearts
Away
- Atalanta 1-0 Fiorentina
- Fiorentina 2-0 Verona
- Basaksehir 3-0 Fiorentina
- Bologna 2-1 Fiorentina
- Fiorentina 1-1 RFS
Hearts team news
Hearts will be without Liam Boyce, Craig Halkett, Kyle Rowles and Beni Baningime due to injuries.
Fiorentina team news
Fiorentina will be without Dodo due to injury, while Jonathan Ikone is suspended.
Prediction and odds
- Double chance (2, X)
- Both sides to score
- Goals under 2.5
