Two sides fighting at opposite ends of the table in the early stages of the Serie A campaign meet at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Monday, when Fiorentina host Empoli in the Derby dell'Arno.
Fiorentina signed off for the international break in superb fashion, beating reigning champions Napoli convincingly at the Maradona to move into the top four.
Match preview
© Reuters
Vincenzo Italiano's side enter this Tuscan derby in much better shape than their neighbours, but they will hope the international break has not killed the momentum built up from that fantastic win in Naples.
A fast start will be key, as that was effective once more in beating Napoli, with Josip Brekalo giving them the lead inside the opening 10 minutes, their 12th first-half goal of the league season already - the highest tally in Europe's top-five leagues.
Finding the net has been no problem for La Viola under Italiano's stewardship, as they have now scored in 22 of their previous 24 Serie A games, with the only exceptions being away at Inter Milan and in last season's trip to Napoli.
Another win here will take them to 20 points, seeing Fiorentina create history with their best start after nine games in the three-points-per-win era.
The Fiorentina faithful will be wondering what could have been too, considering they were held to frustrating draws by Frosinone and Lecce earlier in the campaign.
Their fixture list does become more challenging in the coming weeks though, as La Viola's next three away games take them to Lazio, AC Milan and Roma, with a visit of Juventus to the Artemio Franchi thrown in between.
European fixtures will intertwine those league outings too, but their form on the continent has not been as convincing ahead of their clash with Cukaricki on Thursday.
After scraping past Rapid Vienna in Europa Conference League qualifying, Fiorentina have drawn both of their opening two group games 2-2 against Genk and Ferencvaros.
© Reuters
Empoli's form meanwhile, is among the worst across Europe, especially in attack, as their one solitary goal means no other side in the top-five leagues have scored fewer.
Tommaso Baldanzi's strike against Salernitana gave Aurelio Andreazzoli a win in his second game in charge of his fourth spell at the club, but that is as good as it has got.
Gli Azzurri are still awaiting their first away goal or point of the season, and another defeat here would be just the third time in the last 17 years that they have taken four points or fewer in their opening nine games.
After losing six of their first seven games, Empoli were able to take a point from their clash with Udinese shortly before the break.
Empoli had chances to win the game and also saw Francesco Caputo's first-half strike disallowed following a VAR review, so positives can be taken into this one.
However, trips to the Artemio Franchi have not been particularly fruitful for Empoli, as they have won just once in their last 12 visits to Florence.
Team News
© Reuters
Fiorentina will be without goalkeeper Oliver Christensen until mid-November because of a thigh injury, so Pietro Terracciano should continue between the sticks.
Niccolo Pierozzi is doubtful with an abdominal strain, while Yerry Mina (thigh) and Gaetano Castrovilli (knee) are set to miss the next few weeks.
Dodo's ACL injury means he will be out for most of the campaign, but Michael Kayode is showing signs of being the breakout star in Serie A this season, as the young right-back dealt with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia superbly in their win over Napoli.
Lucas Martinez Quarta and Nicolas Gonzalez have both had to travel back from South America after representing Argentina during the break, with the latter playing 90 minutes in both of their World Cup qualifiers.
Top scorer Gonzalez has been managing a minor injury in recent weeks, and only came on for the final 20 minutes of the win over Napoli, before scoring the third goal.
Empoli boss Andreazzoli will be without Giuseppe Pezzella with a back injury, and AC Milan loanee Daniel Maldini, who has a muscular problem.
Bartosz Bereszynski missed the last two games before the international break, but he was part of the Poland squad which drew with Moldova on Sunday, so he should travel here.
Razvan Marin was in fine form for Romania during the break too, scoring in the Tricolorii's 4-0 win over Andorra which moved them top of their section.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Terracciano; Kayode, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Parisi; Arthur, Duncan, Bonaventura; Gonzalez, Nzola, Brekalo
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Ebuehi, Ismajli, Luperto, Cacace; Marin, Ranocchia, Maleh, Baldanzi, Cancellieri; Caputo
We say: Fiorentina 2-0 Empoli
After beating the likes of Napoli and Atalanta already and having only lost at Inter, Fiorentina are clear favourites for this clash and should find those record-setting three points in this Tuscan derby.
Empoli have looked toothless for the most part, and despite some more positive signs since Andreazzoli's arrival, they are up against it here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
