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Serie A continues this weekend and will see Empoli host Cagliari at Carlo Castellani on Sunday afternoon.
Empoli have begun their 2022 football in poor form. They played out a goalless draw against Bologna last time out and perhaps deserved more from the game but were guilty of wasteful finishing.
The home side sit mid-table in the Serie A standings in 11th-place. They have picked up 30 points from 24 games and will now be looking to return to winning ways when they play this weekend.
Unlike their opponents, Cagliari have begun 2022 in much better form than they ended last year. They picked up a 2-1 away win over Atalanta in their last game with Gaston Pereiro scoring both goals for the visitors.
Cagliari sit 17th in the league table with 20 points from 24 games. They will now be looking to build on their last result when they take on Empoli on Sunday.
Empoli vs Cagliari Head-to-Head
There have been 18 meetings between Empoli and Cagliari. The hosts have won ten of those games while the visitors have won half that tally. There have been three draws between the two sides.
The two sides last faced off in a league clash earlier this season. Empoli won the game 2-0 via goals from Federico Di Francesco and Leo Stulac.
Empoli Form Guide (Serie A): D-L-D-L-D
Cagliari Form Guide (Serie A): W-D-L-W-W
Empoli vs Cagliari Team News
Empoli
Nicolas Haas, Sebastiano Luperto and Riccardo Marchizza are all injured and are not expected to feature against Cagliari this weekend.
Injured: Nicolas Haas, Sebastiano Luperto, Riccardo Marchizza
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Cagliari
The visitors have a lengthy injury list which includes Damir Ceter, Nahitan Nandez, Leonardo Pavoletti, Marko Rog, Kevin Strootman and Sebastian Walukiewicz. Gabriele Zappa is available again after a negative COVID test.
Alessandro Deiola has been suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards and will be absent as well.
Injured: Damir Ceter, Nahitan Nandez, Leonardo Pavoletti, Marko Rog, Kevin Strootman, Sebastian Walukiewicz
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Alessandro Deiola
Empoli vs Cagliari Predicted XI
Empoli Predicted XI (4-3-2-1): Guglielmo Vicario; Petar Stojanovic, Mattia Viti, Simone Romagnoli, Fabiano Parisi; Szymon Zurkowski, Kristjan Asllani, Filippo Bandinelli; Nedim Bajrami, Liam Henderson; Andrea Pinamonti
Cagliari Predicted XI (3-5-2): Alessio Cragno; Edoardo Goldaniga, Matteo Lovato, Andrea Carboni; Raoul Bellanova, Alberto Grassi, Razvan Marin, Daniele Baselli, Dalbert; Gaston Pereiro, Joao Pedro
Empoli vs Cagliari Prediction
Empoli are on an eight-game winless streak across all competitions and have conceded 21 goals in that period. They have conceded 47 goals in the league this season, only bottom-placed Salernitana have conceded more.
Cagliari have lost just one of their last five league games, winning three times. The visitors have avoided defeat against Fiorentina and Atalanta in their last two outings and should therefore have enough to win on Sunday.
Prediction: Empoli 1-2 Cagliari
