Still seeking their first victory in 2022, Empoli welcome a resurgent Cagliari outfit to the Stadio Carlo Castellani for their Serie A battle on Sunday.
Gli Azzurri have lost each of their last three home matches, conceding 13 goals in the process, while the Islanders have won two of their last three games on the road, both by a 2-1 scoreline.
Match preview
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Empoli extended their unwanted winless run to eight matches across all competitions when they played out a goalless draw away at Bologna last weekend.
Gli Azzurri had scored in each of their previous 15 matches across all competitions; however, they were unable to breach Bologna's backline, and were forced to settle for their sixth league draw of the campaign.
Aurelio Andreazzoli's men have moved up one place to 11th in Serie A and sit 12 points clear of the relegation zone, an impressive feat for last season's Serie B champions.
Empoli head into Sunday's fixture after losing their last three league matches on home soil; Gli Azzurri have never recorded four successive home defeats in their top-flight history.
The Tuscany-based outfit did, however, beat Cagliari 2-0 away from home back in September and they will now be looking to do the double against them for the first time in Serie A.
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For the first time since September last year, Cagliari are sitting outside of the relegation zone after their surprise 2-1 win away at Atalanta last weekend.
After a goalless first half, an action-packed 14 minutes saw three goals and the dismissal of Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso, who was sent off for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity just two minutes after Gaston Pereiro had put the visitors in front.
Jose Luis Palomino's 64th-minute equaliser gave the hosts hope of turning the game on its head; however, Pereiro netted his second just four minutes later when his close-range finish capped off a brilliant counter-attacking move to seal three valuable points for the Islanders.
Walter Mazzarri's side, who have accumulated 10 points from their last 15 available, now sit two points above the drop zone, though 18th-placed Venezia do have a game in hand.
Cagliari have only won one of their last six meetings against Empoli, but they head into Sunday's contest in much better form than their counterparts and they will fancy their chances of securing another three points.
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Team News
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Empoli defender Riccardo Marchizza is ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, while Sebastiano Luperto and Nicolas Haas could return later this month from respective muscle and knee problems.
Andreazzoli is set to stick with attacking midfielders Nedim Bajrami and Liam Henderson in behind lone striker Andrea Pinamonti, though Federico Di Francesco and Patrick Cutrone will both be pushing for recalls to the first XI.
As for Cagliari, Kevin Strootman, Marko Rog, Damir Ceter (all knee), Sebastian Walukiewicz (hip) and Nahitan Nandez (knock) are all ruled out with injuries.
Centre-midfielder Alessandro Deiola will serve a one-match suspension, following an accumulation of yellow cards, but forward Joao Pedro is back from his own one-game ban and is set to partner Pereiro in attack, with Charalampos Lykogiannis the most likely to drop to the bench as a result.
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Tonelli, Parisi; Zurkowski, Asslani, Bandinelli; Bajrami, Henderson; Pinamonti
Cagliari possible starting lineup:
Cragno; Lovato, Goldaniga, Carboni; Bellanova, Baselli, Marin, Grassi, Dalbert; Pereiro, Joao Pedro
We say: Empoli 1-1 Cagliari
Both teams will be keen to win for different reasons on Sunday; the hosts seeking to end an eight-game winless run, while the visitors are hoping that they can build on their impressive run of form. However, with little to separate these two sides, a score draw could be on the cards in Tuscany.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Empoli win with a probability of 43.98%. A win for Cagliari had a probability of 31.13% and a draw had a probability of 24.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Empoli win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.27%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.1%) and 2-0 (7.19%). The likeliest Cagliari win was 0-1 (7.56%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.73%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 1-1 draw for this match.
