Fiorentina take on the visitors Rapid Vienna in the second leg of UEFA Conference League qualification finals. First time result: 0-1. The match will be played on Thursday, August 31st at Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence).
Fiorentina return home as the chasing side. The trip to Austria proved to be unsuccessful for the Italians, with the Violas losing 0-1. There are reasons to doubt the current strength of Vincenzo Italiano's team, as in the previous weekend, they struggled to overcome Lecce in Serie A, settling for a 2-2 draw. The only positive result for the Violas so far was a victory in the first round against Genoa, with a score of 4-1. There are evident defensive problems in the team, as they concede in every game this season. If they concede in the upcoming match as well, they will need to score twice just to take the match to extra time. And Rapid are currently strong in defense, casting a shadow over the Italians.
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Rapid have extremely low chances of becoming the country's champions, as it's nearly impossible to surpass Salzburg in Austria over the course of the season. Thus, the goal is to strive for progress in the group stage of the European competitions to tackle more serious tasks. The start of the season has been good for Rapid, with a mix of wins, draws, and occasional losses in the league. What stands out is their solid defense - they have only conceded 3 goals in 8 matches at the start of the season across various competitions. Furthermore, in European competitions, the team hasn't conceded at all. They didn't concede against Hungarian Debrecen, and the first match against Fiorentina was also well played defensively. Therefore, it's not a given that Rapid will collapse defensively in the upcoming match, and they are quite capable of securing a positive outcome for themselves.
The odds for this match are significantly divergent. Bookmakers are predicting a victory for the hosts by a score of almost 5-0. However, there are no substantial reasons for this prediction so far. Hence, it's reasonable to consider placing a reliable positive handicap on the away team, with good chances for the bet to be successful. My bet: Handicap (+2) on Rapid. I believe that in the worst case, this bet will result in a refund.
Prediction for the match: Rapid to win with +2.0 handicap.
