Mastantuono and Paz go head to head as Fiorentina host leggy Como
Paolo Vanoli's Fiorentina face a Como side showing signs of fatigue after Champions League exertions, with Franco Mastantuono and Nico Paz set to duel as the two sides' creative focal points.
Fiorentina host Como at the Stadio Artemio Franchi on Sunday with both sides naming attacking lines built around a different kind of Argentine playmaker, Franco Mastantuono for the hosts and Nico Paz for the visitors, according to the confirmed line-ups reported by Football Italia.
Kick-off is at 14.00 UK time, 15.00 CEST, for the Matchday 7 fixture in Serie A.
Moise Kean will not be involved. Football Italia reports he remains out with a knee issue, which rules him out of what would have been a reunion with the Como teammates he played alongside before his move to Florence.
Como arrive with legs heavier than the table suggests
Cesc Fabregas's side have taken just one point from their last two league outings, a run that includes a draw against a Roma side reduced to ten men and a defeat to Frosinone, per Football Italia's report.
That domestic dip has coincided with Como's first taste of sustained European competition. Their away trip to Feyenoord ended in their first Champions League defeat and cost them Assane Diao, who picked up a muscular injury that will keep him out for two to three weeks.
Against Fiorentina, Fabregas sends out a 4-2-3-1 shape with Tasos Douvikas as the central striker, flanked underneath by Mattia Liberali and Nico Paz, while Lucas Da Cunha comes back into the midfield two alongside Martin Baturina's regular rotation partner Maxence Caqueret pushed higher in the attacking band.
The muscular problem suffered by Diao is the kind of issue that tends to surface when a squad is managing both continental and domestic fixtures without a deep enough rotation, and Como's run of one point from two league games suggests the physical cost of that schedule is already showing.
Vanoli's bounce has stalled at the wrong moment
Fiorentina's own form has been a story of fits and starts since Paolo Vanoli's return to the dugout. Football Italia notes that his reinstatement brought an immediate lift, a win over Venezia and a 1-1 draw against Napoli, before a 2-1 defeat at Genoa dragged the team back into old patterns.
That Genoa result matters context-wise: it shows the improvement under Vanoli has not yet been consistent enough to call a genuine turnaround, and a home game against a Como side carrying fatigue is the kind of fixture where Fiorentina need to prove the Napoli performance was the template rather than the exception.
Arthur Atta and Fabiano Parisi remain unavailable, continuing to limit Vanoli's options in midfield and at full-back. Up front, Mateo Pellegrino keeps his place ahead of Beto, continuing a run that has seen him preferred as the central striker in Fiorentina's front three.
The hosts line up in a 4-3-3, with Jimenez, Dragusin, Pongracic and Viery across the back four, Ndour, Fagioli and Pedro Goncalves forming the midfield block, and Mastantuono paired with Pellegrino and Njie in attack.
Two different jobs for two Argentina talents
The individual matchup between Mastantuono and Paz is less a like-for-like duel than a contrast in roles. Mastantuono operates as part of Fiorentina's front three, working from a wide or inside-forward starting point with licence to combine with Pellegrino and Njie higher up the pitch.
Paz, by contrast, sits in the number ten slot behind Douvikas in Como's 4-2-3-1, the central link between Da Cunha's double pivot and the striker. That positional difference means the two are likely to cross paths through phases of play rather than in a direct one-on-one battle, with Fiorentina's midfield three of Ndour, Fagioli and Pedro Goncalves carrying the responsibility of restricting the space Paz is given to turn and dictate.
Football Italia's report frames the meeting as a chance for Mastantuono to make an impression against a fellow Argentina international, and the shape of both teams suggests that impression will be made in buildup and combination play rather than isolated duels.
Fiorentina will be looking to show that their win over Venezia and draw with Napoli were the true form line rather than the defeat at Genoa, while Como need a response after a winless two-match league stretch compounded by the physical toll of their Champions League campaign.