Sports Mole previews Sunday’s Serie A derby between Empoli and Fiorentina, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Flying high near the top of the Serie A standings, Empoli tackle Tuscan rivals Fiorentina on Sunday evening, aiming to extend their unbeaten start to the season.
The Azzurri enter this season’s first Derby dell’Arno on the back of consecutive wins in league and cup, while the Viola finally recorded their first victory last weekend.
Match preview
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With two wins and three draws from their first five league fixtures, Empoli have reached this stage of a Serie A season unbeaten for the first time ever – and they come into the weekend having also extended their stay in the Coppa Italia.
Two of those draws came against Bologna and Juventus – both of whom qualified for the Champions League last season – and the Azzurri also defeated Roma in the capital; last week, Cagliari were conquered in Sardinia.
Lorenzo Colombo opened the scoring before fellow loan striker Sebastiano Esposito finally ended his long top-flight goal drought to seal a 2-0 win that took Empoli onto an impressive tally of nine points.
Their exploits did not end there, though, as Roberto D’Aversa took his in-form side to Turin in midweek, where they met another unbeaten team, Torino.
The visitors ultimately came out on top in a close-fought cup tie on Tuesday evening, with Nicolas Haas netting a late winning goal that set up a last-16 clash against none other Fiorentina.
Sunday’s game will mark only the third time that Empoli have faced the Viola in Serie A with more points on the board than their regional rivals, and fans will be hoping their dream start does not end abruptly in the derby.
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Having won just one of their last six Serie A away games against Empoli – and none since November 2016 – Fiorentina will be under no illusions as to the task that faces them at Stadio Carlo Castellani.
In addition to scraping through the Conference League playoffs last month, the Viola had picked up just three points ahead of last week’s game against Lazio, having failed to win any of their first four Serie A fixtures for the first time in five years.
New boss Raffaele Palladino was grateful, then, that summer signing Albert Gudmundsson had returned to fitness, as the Icelandic striker coolly converted two penalties – the latter during second-half stoppage time – to secure a 2-1 success.
Occupying 13th place in the table after five matchdays, Fiorentina are now intent on maintaining that momentum by beating Empoli, ahead of next week’s Conference League opener against Welsh outsiders The New Saints.
The Viola have started their Serie A campaign with a draw and a defeat away from home, and Palladino will want to avoid failing to win any of his first three – that would make him the first Fiorentina coach to do so since Vincenzo Montella some 12 years ago.
Empoli Serie A form:
Empoli form (all competitions):
Fiorentina Serie A form:
Fiorentina form (all competitions):
Team News
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While Empoli boss Roberto D’Aversa is still without Samuele Perisan, Szymon Zurkowski and Tyronne Ebuehi, both Jacopo Fazzini and ex-Fiorentina midfielder Youssef Maleh are hopeful of recovering sufficiently to take a place on the bench.
After Pietro Pellegri was offered a start against his parent club Torino in midweek, Inter Milan-owned Sebastiano Esposito and AC Milan loanee Lorenzo Colombo should resume their partnership up front.
The hosts will field a familiar back three, with Ardian Ismajli having recorded the most clearances of any Serie A player so far this season (51) and fellow defender Mattia Viti ranking first for tackles won (15).
Meanwhile, Raffaele Palladino is expected to switch to a four-man defence, and his main fitness concerns regard centre-back Marin Pongracic (thigh) and midfielder Rolando Mandragora (flexor), both of whom still have a chance of involvement at Stadio Castellani.
Having made a major impact from the bench last week – after finally overcoming a calf injury that blighted his start to life in Florence – Albert Gudmundsson could make his first start, supporting Moise Kean in Fiorentina’s attack.
Kean has scored three times in five league games against Empoli to date, and the Italy striker has also found the net twice in his last three top-flight appearances – as many times as throughout the previous 36.
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Goglichidze, Ismajli, Viti; Gyasi, Henderson, Grassi, Pezzella; Anjorin, Esposito; Colombo
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Dodo, Martinez Quarta, Pongracic, Biraghi; Cataldi, Bove; Colpani, Gudmundsson, Sottil; Kean
We say: Empoli 1-2 Fiorentina
Empoli have defied all the odds to stay undefeated so far, and they should certainly pose Fiorentina some problems in the Derby dell’Arno.
However, the Viola can spoil their Azzurri rivals’ party by snatching maximum points, having gained confidence from winning last week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.