Empoli – Fiorentina

Should we expect a goal shootout from the teams?

Despite a lacklustre pre-season, Fiorentina started the season as they should - with victories. "They beat Cremonese in the league and beat Twente in the Conference League. It was not easy for the Italians to get three points against a newcomer to the championship. Despite playing on the powerplay for the second half, Florentines scored the winning goal only on 90+5 minutes. And even that was after a horrendous error by Radu (the Romanian goalkeeper still looks like he's recovered from his last game defeat by Bologna). It is worth noting that Fiorentina's newcomers have already produced some impressive performances. Thus, Mandragora and Jovic scored against the Grigiorossi. Before the start of the season, Vincenzo Italiano lamented the fact that the team are not in top form. It is noticeable in the matches already played: the Pitmen kick off vigorously, but suffer a serious decline in the second half. Empoli got off to the opposite start - two defeats. After losing the Italian Cup, the Azzurri also lost the league title. On Matchday One, Paolo Zanetti's side lost to La Spezia 1-0. It's worth noting that they looked better than their opponents and had a fair number of chances to score. Despite the loss of many players in the summer, Empoli looked very lively in attack. The same Destro circled around his axis and had more than one opportunity to put the ball into the corner of the goal. There are complaints about the centre of defence, which is where Nzola's goal came from, but it will take time to correct those mistakes. The club recently signed Parma midfielder Alberto Grassi. Although Fiorentina will be tired after the European Cup match, and we should obviously expect a rotation, but it is unlikely to change the game vector. Empoli may well take advantage of their opponent's fatigue and peculiarities of their game. Last year, the rivals exchanged victories and the scoreline was 2-1 at the Carlo Castellani. It is also worth noting that the Azzurri were above average at home last season, scoring 28 goals and conceding 44 in 19 rounds. All things considered, it's worth betting on goals from both teams.