Mario Gomez picked up an injury towards the end of Atalanta game yesterday. Despite not looking too bad at the time, today's tests confirmed that he suffered a first degree strain to his right thigh, which will keep him away from the pitch for three weeks, or about 7 competitive matches. After missing pretty much the whole last season due to knee injury, and suffering a goal drought at the beginning of this, this is another kick in the teeth for the German striker, and the viola, who are now (yet again) without two biggest stars, him and Giuseppe Rossi.
While this is obviously not the best news possible, Fiorentina fans should take some consolation in the fact that this is a fairly common injury that has nothing to do with the knee Gomez injured in the past. It will also mean a bigger role for the young Khouma El Babacar, who impressed in the first two games of the season. It will also put much more pressure on the likes of Juan Cuadrado and, yes, we're putting our hopes in him again -- Josip Iličić. They will have a chance to prove themselves in only two days, when Sassuolo is coming to Artemio Franchi in the fourth round of Serie A.