Empoli vs Fiorentina prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2022-08-20 16:30.
For the first time in over 50 years, a strange quirk of fate on Serie A’s (SA) opening weekend saw all 20 teams either win or lose, with Empoli doing the latter, succumbing to a 1-0 defeat against Spezia. That underwhelming start was a continuation of some wretched SA form spanning from mid-December (W2, D9, L11), with early wins during the last campaign to thank for Empoli maintaining their place in SA this season.
No one will want to rediscover last season’s impressive early form more than new manager Paolo Zanetti, who knows that after defeat on opening day, a loss here will see him become the first Empoli boss to lose his opening two SA games since Giovanni Martusciello in 2016. However, the visit of Fiorentina may prove timely for Zanetti, as Empoli have actually won three of the last four home H2Hs (L1).
Fiorentina were less than convincing on opening weekend, narrowly edging past newly-promoting Cremonese 3-2, despite holding a man advantage for over half of the game. While a second successive victory to open the season is the ultimate prize here for Fiorentina, it’s something they have done just twice (13/14 and 18/19) since the turn of the century.
Ending last season with three successive SA away defeats would indicate that this Fiorentina side won’t write themselves into the history books again, although manager Vincenzo Italiano will hope to bring that run to an end in their first away outing of this campaign. There’s a little added incentive for the La Viola boss, who has never won at Empoli in his brief managerial career thus far (D1, L1), but hope springs eternal considering Fiorentina’s impressive recent SA record on Sundays (W8, D3, L2).
Players to watch: Empoli’s Liam Henderson certainly won’t sherk a tackle, though he has collected a yellow card in three of his last five SA appearances. Meanwhile, Luka Jović opened his Fiorentina account last time out and his side have now won his last seven club goalscoring appearances!
Hot stat: Both teams have scored in 12 of Empoli’s last 13 SA home games.