Cagliari vs Empoli prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-12-29 14:00.
With only one point separating Cagliari and Empoli in Serie Aâs (SA) bottom three, this match already has the hallmarks of a relegation âsix-pointerâ. The Sardinians wouldnât have wanted to be in this scrap in their first season back in top-flight, but ending the year on a high will raise hopes they have what it takes to beat the drop. However, the hosts havenât won their last league game of the calendar year across their past four top-flight campaigns (L4), meaning history isnât on their side.
Cagliari have lost their last two league games, but both came on the road, so manager Claudio Ranieri might be pretty relieved to be getting back home to Unipol Domus. At this venue they are unbeaten in their last four league games (W3, D1) with two of those wins seeing them score twice during the stoppage time, so donât be shocked to see more late drama here.
Empoli are also coming off two successive defeats, both seeing them fail to score which has been an ongoing issue for the away side. A league-low ten goals scored and a league-high ten failures to find the back of the net highlights the severity of their attacking woes this season, but having netted at least once across their last seven league H2Hs, thatâs something that might be set to improve on this trip.
The visitors also secured their only top-flight H2H victory on their last visit to this venue in 2021/22, yet a repeat of that is not guaranteed if their recent form is to continue with just one of their last eight league games delivering a win (D2, L5). They have avoided defeat in three of their last five matches on the road though (W2, D1), which suggests they enjoy travelling better than games at home!
Players to watch: Nicolas Violaâs two league goals this season have helped Cagliari earn four points, but he has only scored in one of his eight personal H2Hs. Empoliâs Viktor Kovalenko likes striking late, with both his SA goals this season arriving after the 85th minute.
Hot stat: After 17 SA rounds, Cagliari and Empoli have failed to score before half-time in a joint-league-high 14 SA games.