Empoli vs Monza Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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We have two of the sides that will be looking to avoid the Serie A relegation battle this season with Empoli narrowly escaping the drop on the final day last season and Monza continuing their push to grow and move into being a mid-table or even top-half side.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 17th August, 2024 - UK – 7:45pm / US ET – 2:45pm / US PT – 11:45am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+
EMPOLI PREVIEW: IN FLUX
In the last few seasons, Empoli have cycled through managers with Paolo Zanetti and Aurelio Andreazzoli having had a couple of spells apiece as the Florence-based club continue to battle against the drop. Serie A’s miracle worker, Davide Nicola, came in to steer them clear but he has been replaced.
After creating great escapes of Empoli, Crotone and Salernitana, Nicola has been disposed of with former Benevento and Lecce coach Roberto D’Aversa coming in after he was sacked as Lecce boss for headbutting Hellas Verona striker Thomas Henry in a 1-0 loss to Verona amidst some poor form on the field.
MONZA PREVIEW: REPLACING PALLADINO
Even with the death of Silvio Berlusconi last year, Monza, who gained promotion to the top-flight of Italian football for the first time ever in 2022, have remained an ambitious club and were not too far away from mounting a serious push for a top seven finish and potential European qualification last season.
However, this time around, they are having to deal with a setback as their coach Rafaelle Palladino left the club for Fiorentina. He has been replaced by AC Milan legend Alessandro Nesta, who was most recently in charge of Reggiana and led them to a mid-table finish in Serie B last season.
EMPOLI TEAM NEWS: SEVERAL DEFENSIVE CONCERNS
Roberto D’Aversa is dealing with some key issues for Empoli and a lot of the issues are at the back with centre-backs Ardian Ismajli, Sebastian Walukiewicz and Tyronne Ebuehi all sidelined.
As well as those three, they will also be without midfielder Szymon Zurkowski, who was absolutely essential to them propelling themselves away from the bottom three and the relegation places.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Devis Vasquez; Marianucci, Viti, Cacace; Henderson, Gyasi, Fazzini, Grassi, Pezzella; Colombo, Esposito
UNAVAILABLE: Perisan (Injured), Ismajli (Injured), Walukiewicz (Injured), Ebuehi (Injured), Zurkowski (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
MONZA TEAM NEWS: INJURY ISSUES FOR MONZA
It is set up to be a difficult season for Alessandro Nesta and, after their penalty shootout victory over Sudtirol last season, he is missing some key players due to injury, too.
New signing Omari Forson, who joined from Manchester United this summer, is expected to be unavailable with the likes of Alessio Cragno, Patrick Ciurria and striker Milan Djuric.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-1-2): Pizzignacco; Izzo, Pablo Mari, Caldirola; Birindelli, Pessina, Bondo, Kyriakopoulos; Maldini; Petagna, Dany Mota
UNAVAILABLE: Cragno (Injured), Ciurria (Injured), Forson (Injured), Djuric (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
EMPOLI VS MONZA PREDICTION
Empoli are once again expected to be battling the drop. Despite being a disciple of Roberto De Zerbi, Roberto D’Aversa has not quite managed to create the similar attacking cohesive patterns of play. Alessandro Nesta does not have a stellar managerial record and his Reggiana side was quite tedious in terms of their style of play so the likelihood is that this one will be a low-scoring encounter.
EMPOLI VS MONZA TIP: UNDER 2.5 GOALS
