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On Thursday, February 16, Braga will play Fiorentina in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout playoffs at the Estadio Municipal de Braga.
The hosts finished third in the Europa League group stage at the start of their campaign. In contrast, Fiorentina came in behind Istanbul Basaksehir on goal difference to finish second in Group A of the Conference League.
With three victories in a row, Braga is off to a strong start. In their previous outing, they beat Maritimo 2-1 at the weekend in the Primeira Liga. In contrast, Fiorentina has lost their last two league games, the most recent of which was a 1-0 defeat to Juventus in Serie A over the weekend.
Jorge can select what he considers to be his strongest starting XI against Fiorentina because Braga appears to be in the enviable position of not having any concerns regarding injuries or suspensions to deal with on Thursday.
As a result, he might decide to stick with the same lineup as Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Maritimo, with club captain Andre Horta continuing to play in the role of offensive midfielder behind Simon Banza.
In the meantime, Antonio Barak, who was sidelined over the weekend with a stomach bug, is expected to miss Fiorentina’s trip.
With only one point from their last five league games, Fiorentina will almost certainly return to Florence after yet another defeat, if recent results are any indication.
After finishing seventh in Serie A last year, Vincenzo Italiano’s team has failed to improve, losing 1-0 to their fiercest rivals Juventus on Sunday to remain in 14th place in the standings.
As a result, their only real chance of competing in Europe again next season is through cup competitions. They beat Torino 2-1 in the Coppa Italia quarterfinal to set up a two-legged semi-final match against Cremonese, who are currently bottom of the Italian top division.
In addition, Italiano has a real chance of cementing his legacy at the club if he is able to lead them all the way through the Europa Conference League, as I Viola’s only victory in Europe came against Rangers in the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1960-61.
Luka Jovic is likely to be recalled to the starting XI after only making one appearance from the bench on Sunday in Turin, but Italiano appears to have a fully-fit squad to choose from.
A meta está traçada, resta-nos dar tudo de nós para atingi-la 💪
— SC Braga (@SCBragaOficial) February 15, 2023
Juntos vamos conseguir. #UECL pic.twitter.com/o5vV57uioE
Braga has kept four clean sheets in their last seven games, putting them on an eight-game winning streak at home.
In contrast, Fiorentina has only won once in six competitive games and lost four times. Even though they played well in the group stage, they may struggle here given their current form. Braga, on the other hand, has been playing well at home recently, so they should win by a small margin.
Prediction: Braga 2-1 Fiorentina
Competitively, the two teams will meet for the first time. In competitions, the hosts have scored more than 2.5 goals in four of their last five games, while the visitors have scored less than 2.5 goals in five of their last seven games.
With at least two goals in seven and three in four games, Braga has won their last eight games. In their last four games, Fiorentina has failed to score twice and has struggled on the road.
With 14 goals in six games, the visitors had the Conference League’s best-attacking record in the group stage.
SQUAD LIST | 📄
— ACF Fiorentina English (@ACFFiorentinaEN) February 15, 2023
The Viola players to face Braga ⚜️#ForzaViola #BragaFiorentina #ACFFiorentina #UECL pic.twitter.com/SzTIxiS0oV
• SC Braga prevails 94% of the time when they are ahead 1-0 at home.
• SC Braga wins the first half in 46% of games, while ACF Fiorentina wins the first half in 35% of games.
• In their last six games, ACF Fiorentina has given up a goal in each one.
• ACF Fiorentina loses all of their away games when they are down 1-0.
• ACF Fiorentina wins 77% of their games when they lead 0-1 away.
• SC Braga wins 46% of the time at the half, while ACF Fiorentina wins 35%.
• SC Braga has given up at least one goal in each of their last five games.
• SC Braga has won three consecutive games.
Braga:
Matheus; Gomez, Oliveira, Niakate, Borja; Castro, Racic; Pizzi, Horta, Djalo; Banza
Fiorentina:
Terracciano; Dodo, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Amrabat, Castrovilli; Gonzalez, Jovic, Ikone