Empoli vs Genoa prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-02-02 14:00.
Empoli seem to have found a new lease of life in their battle against Serie A relegation this season, going unbeaten across their two games under new coach Davide Nicola (W1, D1). As a result of that turnaround, the hosts are now just a point away from safety and have even found a way to improve upon their scoring in the process. That’s because they netted more than 25% of their league goals in those two games which comes as much-needed relief for a side that have netted the lowest number of goals (15) in this top-flight campaign.
A 3-0 win over Monza in their last home league game certainly accelerated those improvements, especially as the Blues failed to score in seven of their ten home Serie A matches prior to that. Playing Genoa will come as a challenge though, as the hosts haven’t won a top-flight H2H since October 2015 (D4, L4), including a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture.
Genoa travel here on the back of a recent unbeaten league run (W3, D4) which has aided their push towards Serie A’s top-half. Each of their last two outings have ended in 2-1 wins for Alberto Gilardino’s side, both after conceding the opener, which further demonstrated the never say die attitude of a side that have a league-high 11 points from losing positions ahead of the round.
The Red and Blues now have the chance to post three consecutive top-flight wins for the first time since February 2021 and their recent improved away form (W2, D1) could boost those hopes after that three-match revival ended a prior five-game losing sequence on the road across all competitions.
Key battle: Sebastiano Luperto has an interesting love affair with Genoa as his previous three H2Hs ended in stalemates, with two ending goalless. The Empoli defender could be marshalling Mateo Retegui, and with Genoa unbeaten in his last five scoring appearances (W4, D1), including successive 2-1 victories, a goal from him could prove a good omen.
Hot streak: Empoli’s last eight league games have seen the half-time result replicated at full-time.