Pisa vs Fiorentina: Preview

Fiorentina, still searching for its first win of the season, takes the short trip down the SS67 for the first Derby Toscana since 1994. Despite sitting 19th in its return to Serie A (albeit with a better defensive record than the Viola) Pisa will be fired up for this one and the salty boys will be desperate to celebrate their first top flight campaign in 32 years with a win over their hated rivals. In 21 previous meetings, the good guys hold a W12 D7 L2 mark, with the only loss in the league coming all the way back in 1987.

The match will be played Sunday, 28 September 2025, at 1:00 PM GMT/9:00 AM EST at the Stadio Romeo Anconetani in Pisa. The forecast calls for a warm fall day that will doubtless feel warmer on the pitch, not least because the Curva Fiesole has decided to stay home, citing exorbitant ticket prices. The Nerazzurri fans, though, will be there en masse; expect a sell-out crowd that should more than make up for any exhaustion in the hosts’ legs after bowing out of the Coppa Italia on penalties at Torino on Thursday.

Three things to watch for

1. Stefano Pioli’s lineup roulette. The Fiorentina manager has tried a different formation in each of his club’s first 4 games (3-4-2-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-5-2, 4-4-2) and none of the setups have brought the best out of his charges. At a certain point, he has to pick a setup and stick with it; maybe this is the game that he opts for continuity over innovation.

Moise Kean, David de Gea, Dodô, and Robin Gosens will start. Marin Pongračić and Luca Ranieri are near locks as well. Beyond that, it’s all up for grabs. The real question is whether he’ll opt for 2 or 3 central midfielders. Theoretically, Fiorentina’s got enough quality to control this game without that third midfielder. In practice, though, no one on the roster has looked capable of steering this thing as it skids around like 1968 Buick LeSabre on ice.

Gun to my head, I think it’ll be a midfield 3 with Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Nicolò Fagioli, and Rolando Mandragora, although Simon Sohm and Jacopo Fazzini could easily slot in as well. Last week’s 4-4-2 brought out the best Fiorentina we’ve seen (at least for the first 45 minutes, after which everything unraveled completely) but the roster’s not really built for that; just like Raffaele Palladino found last year, there aren’t any wingers in the squad, so a 4-4-2 means doubling up on fullbacks or shifting a midfielder to the wing.

2. How the Viola attack another deep block. As you’d expect for a newly-promoted team, Pisa is going to sit deep and force Fiorentina to break it down. They’ll operate in a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-2-1 predicated around clogging the middle and defending the box with numbers while ceding the wings (they’ve defended more crosses than any team in Serie A). They’re not completely passive and will occasionally move forward to press in midfield but they’ll mostly hunker down and look to strike on the break.

That freedom on the wings means that Dodô is probably the key man. If he can beat up on his opposite number and provide a spark, Pisa will have to send another defender wide, opening space elsewhere. That can’t be Fiorentina’s only avenue of attack, though. The midfielders will have to create some sort of threat through the middle, whether that’s by picking apart the deep block, shooting from distance, or crashing the box to make up the numbers.

Pisa’s defense is far from perfect and Fiorentina will create at least a couple chances, as it has in every game so far. It all comes down to whether the players, and particularly the forwards, can convert those chances. Odds are that Moise Kean will shake off his slow start and finally find his scoring boots, but if he and his colleagues keep sputtering, there’s not really much point in doing the defensive and midfield stuff.

3. It’s the Derby Toscana, baby. This is THE red letter day on Pisa’s calendar: at home against the most hated rival the club has. The atmosphere is going to be as fiery as any Fiorentina will face this year and there’s no doubt that these guys know what they’re getting into, especially given the large contingent of players either from Tuscany or who’ve been long-term residents. They’ll feel the burden of expectations as the bigger side, despite the fact that these teams are equal on points, and will need to react well. That’s on them and on Pioli.

To throw some extra fuel on the fire, there are a number of ties between these two clubs, starting with Pisa manager Alberto Gilardino. A Viola legend, he’s been connected with the Fiorentina job over the past couple summers and would love to get his first-ever win over his former club. Add to that the presence of loanee M’Bala Nzola, whose relationship with the fans and press in Florence is hmm ambivalent at best, and old friend Juan Cuadrado (fresh off a red card in the Coppa game) and you’ve got a seething mass of emotions. It’s going to be a hell of a match for the neutral, even if it leaves fans chewing their nails.

Possible lineups

Ted’s Memorial Blind Guess Department

The bookies have Fiorentina as big favorites on name alone but I don’t think the odds reflect reality. For one thing, these sides are even on points and goal difference, and neither has looked particularly good. I’d argue, in fact, that they’ve both looked bad. Maybe there’s some concern that Pisa 120+ minutes on Thursday but a ravenous crowd should more than make up for any exhaustion in the legs. To repeat, the Anconetani is going to be a cauldron.

Predicting the result in a derby is always a fool’s errand. All too often, the animus between the sides means that talent and planning count for less than passion, leaving the “experts” as bamboozled as the rest of us, scrambling for some sort of post facto explanation.

That’s enough hedging. I’ll say that this is it. This is the game in which Fiorentina finally gets untracked and looks at least sort of competent across 90 minutes. I’ll call it a 1-3 win for the good guys behind a Kean brace and a strike from Albert Guðmundsson off the bench, with Nzola naturally getting one for the hosts. If I were a betting man (I’m not and you shouldn’t be either), I’d also take the over on cards in what should be a very physical affair.

Forza Viola!