Empoli vs Genoa prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2024-12-27 14:00.
[p]Empoli boss Roberto D’Aversa will face one of his favourite opponents this coming round, and whilst the mood at the club may be a little glum after his side lost three of their last four Serie A matches (W1), they should be proud of coming so close to ending Atalanta’s club record winning streak at the weekend (L 3-2). Now they have one last opportunity to end the calendar year in the top half of the table. [/p]
[p]D’Aversa has defeated Genoa more times (W6, L3) as a manager than any other club, but extending that record to seven victories is no guarantee here on the basis of Empoli’s last three home performances. They failed to defeat two nearby rivals in the table, Torino (L 1-0) and Udinese (D 1-1), and before that created only 0.61 expected goals in a 1-0 win at home to newly-promoted relegation contenders Como. [/p]
[p]Genoa (14 goals) have scored even fewer than Empoli’s 16 this season, well below the league average of 22.7 at the start of this round, so it may not come as a surprise if the two teams were to produce a fourth consecutive H2H with under 2.5 total goals. That has mostly been the story of Genoa’s last couple of months, with their weekend 2-1 loss at home to Napoli just the second of their last eight matches to see at least three goals scored. [/p]
[p]It was also their first loss under new manager Patrick Vieira (W1, D3), who said he “learned a lot about the team” in the defeat to Napoli and praised the manner in which they outscored the title-chasers after half-time. Considering they had already recorded three consecutive clean sheets during Vieira’s brief stint, two of which extended their unbeaten run in Serie A away football to three games (W2, D1), they’ll surely fancy their chances of joining Empoli on 19 points with victory here![/p]
[p]Players to watch: Empoli midfielder Liam Henderson made a successful return from suspension to register a sixth consecutive competitive match in which he either got booked or assisted a goal. Former Empoli striker Andrea Pinamonti was back on the scoresheet last round and struck in both games against Empoli for Sassuolo last season. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: The pre-match favourite has won just 29% of Empoli’s Serie A games this season as well as 29% of Genoa’s fixtures (both W5, D7, L5). [/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]