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Verona square off against Empoli in the second round fixture of the Coppa Italia at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on Wednesday.
The hosts suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Atalanta in their Serie A outing on Sunday, as the visiting side came from behind to inflict a second loss in their last four league outings.
Empoli recorded their third win in their last four league outings, as Patrick Cutrone's 70th-minute winner helped them to a memorable win at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Verona secured their place in the second round of the competition with a 3-0 win over third division side US Catanzaro while Empoli overcame Vicenza with a 4-2 win.
Verona vs Empoli Head-to-Head
There have been 21 meetings between the two sides across all competitions and this will be the first time the two sides will go head-to-head in the Coppa Italia.
The visiting side have a slight advantage in this fixture and have recorded nine wins against I Gialloblu. The hosts are not far behind with seven wins while five games have ended in draws.
They last met in league action in November at Wednesday's venue, with the game ending in a 2-1 win for the hosts, as Adrien Tameze scored the winning goal in injury time.
Verona form guide (Serie A): L-W-D-L-W
Empoli form guide (Serie A): W-W-D-W-L
Verona vs Empoli Team News
Verona
Pawel Dawidowicz has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign after rupturing his ACL last Sunday. Here are the rest of the absentees for the home side:
- Koray Günter - Calf injury
- Nikola Kalinic - Calf injury
- Gianluca Frabotta - Hamstring injury
Injured: Koray Gunter, Gianluca Grabotta, Pawel Dawidawicz, Nikola Kalinic
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Empoli
The visiting side do not have any injury or suspension concerns for this game. It is expected that Aurelio Andreazzoli will field a similar starting XI to the one that has won three out of their last four Serie A games.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Verona vs Empoli Predicted XI
Hellas Verona Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Lorenzo Montipo; Federico Ceccherini, Nicolo Casale, Giangiacomo Magnani; Marco Faraoni, Darko Lazovic, Miguel Veloso, Adrien Tameze; Kevin Lasagna; Giovanni Simeone, Gianluca Caprari
Empoli Predicted XI (4-3-1-2): Guglielmo Vicario; Fabiano Parisi, Sebastiano Luperto, Lorenzo Tonelli, Petar Stojanovic; Liam Henderson, Samuele Ricci, Szymon Żurkowski; Nedim Bajrami; Patrick Cutrone, Andrea Pinamonti
Verona vs Empoli Prediction
Verona have six wins in their 10 home games this term while Empoli have five wins in their eight away games so far. Empoli have three clean sheets on their travels and their form signals another good outing is on the cards.
The game promises to be a high-scoring affair as the hosts have scored eight goals in their last five outings while Empoli have nine. A narrow win for the Azzurri is the most likely outcome from the game.
Prediction: Verona 2-3 Empoli
