Fiorentina – Basel

It will not be easy for the hosts. The Swiss club can spoil the favourites

The first leg of the Conference League semi-final will take place on 11 May. Fiorentina and Basel meet in Florence at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. The starting whistle will sound at 22:00 Moscow time. Fiorentina suffered their first defeat in the play-offs. The Italian club defeated Poznan Lech 4-1 on the road. At home, they were trailing 0-3 by the 69th minute but managed to score twice in the closing stages to escape extra time. The result was a 6-4 victory on aggregate. Basel faced France's Nice in the quarter-finals. On the home pitch the teams were held to a 2-2 draw. In the away game the Swiss won a hard-fought victory. The normal time ended in a 1-1 draw. Basel equalized in the 86th minute. The winning goal came in the first extra time. In the semi-final series, Fiorentina are favourites to win the home game and the entire encounter. The latest results from the Fiorentina side can't make the club's fans happy. Fiorentina have just one win in seven official matches. On the last matchday of Serie A, the Fiilas lost to Napoli, making the Neapolitans the Italian champions. The game was decided by a single goal. On 74 minutes, Victor Osimhen converted the spot-kick. At the distance of 10 games, the team have recorded 3 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats. The Pepsi are in 10th place in Serie A. Basel, like their semi-final opponent, lost their last match. "The Red and Blue lost 0-2 at home to Zurich. Both goals were conceded in regulation time. The game was marked by four penalties. In the 86th minute, Nuhu Qasim was sent off. Wouter Buerger and Taulant Djaku were sent off in injury time. Mirlind Krueziou was called off for the visitors. In their 10 official matches, the team has three wins, four draws and three defeats. On the road, Basel have lost just twice in a span of 10 meetings. At international level, the teams have played two head-to-head games. In the 2015/16 season, the clubs played in the same Europa League group. Basel won away 2-1 and drew 2-2 at home. Fiorentina are the clear favourites for this match. But the odds are too small to bet on them winning. Basel will go all out and try to get a positive result. We can bet on the visitors' victory with a handicap (+1.5).