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Jose Mourinho officially kick-starts his second term in Serie A with AS Roma hosting Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 season.
The Portuguese manager has already oversaw victory in his first game in-charge of the club. I Giallorossi beat Trabzonspor 2-1 in the first-leg of their play-offs in the UEFA Europa Conference League earlier this week.
But there's a lot of expectation from the side on the league front.
Mourinho has spent much of his summer rebuilding the squad with promising new signings, whilst also mending relations with his old player, Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
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Fiorentina will offer a baptism of fire on his return to Serie A as the side have caused Roma plenty of problems in the recent past.
La Viola also started their campaign with a bang, drubbing Serie B side Cosenza 4-0 in the first round of the Coppa Italia last Saturday.
AS Roma vs Fiorentina Head-To-Head
This will be the 50th official clash between the sides.
In the previous 49, the Giallorossi held an overwhelming record, winning 29 times, while their Florence counterparts beat them only 10 times.
AS Roma Form Guide (all competitions): W
Fiorentina Form Guide (all competitions): W
AS Roma vs Fiorentina
AS Roma
Leonardo Spinazzola injured himself at Euro 2020 and will miss the first few weeks of the campaign. Chris Smalling and Gonzalo Villar will also remain absent.
New signing Tammy Abraham has been training hard but he's likely to come off the bench to make his Roma debut.
So that means another start for Uzbek striker Eldor Shomurodov, who scored against Trabzonspor in the first-leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs.
Injured: Leonardo Spinazzola, Chris Smalling, Gonzalo Villar
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Fiorentina
La Viola have Sofyan Amrabat missing due to a groin injury. However, manager Vincenzo Italiano might play the same team which cruised past Cosenza in the Coppa Italia last weekend.
Injured: Sofyan Amrabat
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
AS Roma vs Fiorentina Predicted XI
AS Roma (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Rick Karsdorp, Gianluca Mancini, Roger Ibanez, Matias Vina; Jordan Veretout, Bryan Cristante; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Nicolo Zaniolo; Eldor Shomurodov.
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Pietro Terracciano; Lorenzo Venuti, Nikola Milenkovic, German Pezzella, Cristiano Biraghi; Giacomo Bonaventura, Erick Pulgar, Youssef Maleh; Jose Callejon, Dusan Vlahovic, Nicolas Gonzalez.
AS Roma vs Fiorentina Prediction
Fiorentina have a really good squad this season and should not be underestimated.
But having said that, Roma are a rejuvenated side too, armed with some incredible new signings.
A winning start for Jose Mourinho in his second Serie A spell.
Prediction: AS Roma 2-1 Fiorentina
