Fiorentina are set to travel to Switzerland for their second match in the 2024-25 Europa Conference League on Thursday evening, aiming to secure points against a struggling St. Gallen team.
The hosts have not recorded a victory in any competition since late September and recently suffered a heavy 6-2 defeat to Cercle Brugge in their opening Europa League fixture. In contrast, Fiorentina kicked off their European campaign with a solid 2-0 win over Welsh side The North Saints in Florence.
Unfortunately for Fiorentina, Albert Gudmundsson will be sidelined for several weeks due to injury, placing additional pressure on Lucas Beltran to step up in the attack. Pre-match reports indicate that he may be joined in the offensive lineup by Christina Kouame, Jonathan Ikone, and Riccardo Sottil.
In midfield, Danilo Cataldi and Amir Richardson are likely to take on key roles, while a familiar back four is expected, featuring Michael Kayode.
St. Gallen will once again be without their leading league scorer, Willem Geubbels, who found the net in their recent match against Basel. He is expected to lead the attack once again.
Midfielder Bastien Toma, a former Switzerland Under-21 captain, will play a crucial role in the midfield, having already provided four assists this season along with two goals during the Conference League qualifiers.
However, St. Gallen’s injury problems persist, with Chadrac Akolo, Betim Fazliji, Gregory Karlen, and Ghanaian center-back Stephan Ambrosius all unavailable due to various injuries.
St. Gallen (4-3-1-2): Ati; Faber, Stanic, Vallci, Yannick; Görtler, Quintilla, Witzig; Toma; Geubbels, Akolo.
Fiorentina (4-2-3-1): Terracciano; Kayode, Moreno, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Cataldi, Richardson; Ikone, Beltran, Sottil; Kouame.
