Empoli v Cagliari

Empoli vs Cagliari Preview

Empoli moved up into a more comfortable 13th place in the Serie A table following last weekend's 3-2 win away from home at Sassuolo which in turn also extended the hosts' unbeaten run in the domestic top flight to a solid looking six games while Cagliari's winless run continued despite gaining a creditable point in a 1-1 draw at home with Napoli last Sunday.

It had looked like being a long and tough slog in this season's Serie A campaign for Empoli as the hosts had managed to capture just three wins from their opening 20 matches of this term which came in the form of rare victories against the likes of Salernitana, Fiorentina and Napoli, the latter two wins both being achieved away from home.

In addition, Empoli had also been handed a total of 13 defeats within these 20 league games which had placed the hosts under a great deal of pressure but nevertheless, Empoli have come out swinging and have managed to turn things around in recent weeks by putting together a six-match unbeaten sequence.

Within this unbeaten spell, Empoli have registered important wins against Monza, Salernitana and Sassuolo respectively and the hosts now stand a decent chance of posting back-to-back wins for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon.

Cagliari still find themselves in relegation trouble down near the foot of the Serie A table as the hosts occupy second from bottom in the table despite their heroics in last weekend's Italian top flight action which resulted in a 1-1 draw at home with Napoli at their Unipol Domus ground.

However, despite picking up that encouraging point last time out, the fact still remains that Cagliari have now failed to win any of their last six games overall in Serie A and having slipped to four defeats within this period, the omens do not look good for the visitors ahead of this upcoming clash at the Stadio Carlo Castellani.

Recent losses to Frosinone, Torino, Roma and Lazio respectively have ensured Cagliari remain sitting in the bottom three of the Serie A table while the bigger picture shows Claudio Ranieri's side have managed to collect just two wins from their last 15 matches overall in the domestic top flight.

To make matters worse, both of these wins were recorded on home soil with wins against Sassuolo and Bologna but this of course means results away from home have suffered and indeed, Cagliari have yet to taste success on the road so far in this campaign, losing nine of their 13 away games to date.

Empoli v Cagliari Verdict

Empoli have lost just once in their last eight meetings against Cagliari and the hosts look the more likely to grab the three points here as well.

Therefore, our main bet will be Empoli win @ 2.15

Other side bets worth considering:

Empoli win & Under 2.5 goals @ 4.33

Correct Score: Empoli 1-0 @ 7.00