Fiorentina vs Empoli prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-02-18 14:00.
With less than 50 kilometres dividing the stadiums of Fiorentina and Empoli, you can bet this 26th Tuscan derby in Serie A (SA) will be fierce. It’s Fiorentina who hold the historical bragging rights (W11, D8, L6), although their dominance has suffered a recent blow with only one win across the last four H2Hs (D1, L2). They’ll be keen to assert that dominance again here, but scoring just twice across their last five SA matches has revived doubts about their offensive power.
Fiorentina had no such issues in front of goal in Thursday's 4-0 win at Braga in the UEFA Europa Conference League playoffs, which should boost Vincenzo Italiano’s men as they attempt to better their decisively average home league record this term (W4, D3, L4). Empoli are perhaps the opportune opponent to face then, given Fiorentina have won six of their last nine home H2Hs.
Two goals beyond the 70th minute saw Empoli salvage a point against Spezia last time out as they continue their push for a top-half finish. That was their second SA match in 2023 to end 2-2 after they were trailing 2-0, which shows great character within the team to bounce back, but ultimately ensured Empoli have now registered the joint-most draws in SA ahead of this round (nine).
A sole defeat in seven top-flight outings in 2023 (W2, D4) showcases a significant improvement from Paolo Zanetti’s side, who actually come into this clash three points better off than Fiorentina. However, no goals scored in the last two H2H meetings suggests this derby won’t be easy and their fans probably know they’ll have to be patient if they’re to arrest that slide as Empoli have scored 52% of their SA goals this term beyond the hour mark.
Players to watch: Fiorentina’s Luka Jović will hope his European brace against Braga will help him break his SA duck as he last scored in this competition back at the beginning of November. For the visitors, Emanuel Vignato scored Empoli’s equaliser against Spezia within ten minutes of his debut to become their fifth league goalscorer born after Jan 1 2000.
Hot streak: Each of the last four H2Hs were goalless at half-time.