Fiorentina vs Empoli prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-10-22 18:45.
Few teams would’ve been dreading their momentum being halted by the international break as much as Fiorentina, who proved their unbelievable start to this Serie A (SA) campaign was no fluke when soundly beating reigning champions Napoli 3-1 prior to the pause. Their reward is beginning the round in fourth place on 17 points, where another win here would see the Viola register their highest points tally after nine league matches in the three-points per win era.
A return to the Stadio Artemio Franchi serves as the perfect backdrop in their pursuit of history, with no team securing more points at home since March this year than Fiorentina’s 24, tied with AC Milan prior to the weekend. Manager Vincenzo Italiano knows it will probably be his defence that decides if they rewrite the history books or not, considering his team has scored in all but two of their last 24 SA matches.
The opposite end of that spectrum is where you’ll find opponents Empoli, whose ineffectiveness in front of goal has been staggering. The visitors have scored only a solitary goal this SA campaign, which is unsurprisingly the lowest goal tally across all teams in Europe’s traditional top-five leagues this season, and they’re ominously still waiting on their first away league goal.
Their sole strike of the season did at least produce a win in manager Aurelio Andreazzoli’s second game in charge of his fourth stint at the club, but a loss and a draw since means his team will start yet another matchday in the relegation zone. While their hosts chase history with a win, another defeat would be record breaking for the Blues too, as only twice since 1996/97 have they been stranded on four or less points after nine league matches.
Players to watch: Nicolás González has started the season on fire, scoring five SA goals already, four of which arrived before half-time. He might meet his match in Empoli’s Nicolò Cambiaghi, who scored the match opener in five of seven goalscoring appearances last season, including in this very fixture.
Hot stat: Prior to the weekend, no team in Europe’s traditional top-five leagues have scored more first-half goals in league play than Fiorentina’s 12 this season.