The final game of the weekend in the Italian Serie A takes place on the 16th of January as Empoli meet Sampdoria.
The game will be played at the Stadio Carlo Castellani and the hosts begin the weekend in 11th place on 19 points while the visitors are in 19th place on 9 points.
Empoli come into the match on the back of a 2-2 draw at Lazio in Serie A last weekend. It appeared Empoli were going to suffer a defeat as they were 2-0 down with only 7 minutes remaining but they produced a great finish to the game, scoring 2 goals including an equaliser in the 94th minute.
That result means Empoli have lost only 1 of their last 5 Serie A fixtures and are undefeated in their last 3 league games. There have been wins at home over Sassuolo and Cremonese plus draws at Udinese and Lazio.
Home form in the league shows Empoli have won 3 of their last 4 matches and are undefeated in 6 of their last 9 Serie A fixtures on home soil.
Trends show there have been under 2.5 goals scored in Empoli’s last 4 home league games. They do not score many goals in-front of their own fans but Empoli have been good defensively and they have kept a clean sheet in 3 of their 4 most recent home Serie A matches.
Sampdoria travel to the Stadio Carlo Castellani having suffered a 1-0 loss at Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia on Thursday night. The only goal of the game was scored in the 25th minute and Sampdoria had a player sent off at the end of the match to compound their misery.
Sampdoria have been struggling this season and they have won only 4 of their last 25 Serie A matches.
They have lost 5 of their last 6 Serie A fixtures, with the defeats coming at home against Fiorentina, Lecce, and Napoli plus away to Inter Milan and Torino. The only win from their 6 most recent Serie games came at Sassuolo.
Away form in Serie A shows Sampdoria have won 2 of their last 12 matches on the road. They have failed to find the back of the net in 2 of their last 3 away league games.
Team news and Empoli could be without forward Mattia Destro due to a calf problem but every other player should be fit and available.
Sampdoria are without the injured duo of Fabio Quagliarella and Manuel De Luca. Midfielder Tomas Rincon is suspended.
Empoli will see this as an opportunity to close the gap on the top half of the table with a win. Sampdoria have been poor this season and Empoli will fancy their chances of keeping another clean sheet at home.
We expect to see Empoli come out on top in this game, with under 2.5 goals scored in total.
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