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Napoli vs Empoli Prediction & Betting tips
The cup has enormous appeal, especially for many underdogs, after all, heroic stories can be written in duels between David and Goliath. In Italy such duels between a top team and a lower-class club are very rare, because the top teams only enter the competition in the round of 16.
This week six of the eight matches of the Coppa Italia round of 16 will be played. Defending champion Naples also intervenes against Empoli in the action.
The team from the foot of Mount Vesuvius defeated champions Juventus Turin on penalties last season and secured triumph in the Coppa Italia for the sixth time in the club’s history. The guests from Empoli are one of only two teams (besides SPAL Ferrara) that are not based in Serie A.
Away with the defending champion, the chances of a surprise are of course manageable. However, the Partenopei has been warned, because Empoli is playing a strong season and is the current league leader in Serie B.
The game in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium starts on Wednesday at 16:45 p.m. Further previews and analyzes of the Coppa Italia round of 16 games can be found in the betting category Football Italy.
Naples :
Four years in a row, Naples reached a top three place in the Italian Serie A, before it only reached a disappointing seventh place in the table last season. After all, the triumph in the Coppa Italia against Juventus Turin was a bit of comfort for Gennaro Gattuso’s team.
This season, the return to the UEFA Champions League is the benchmark by which the heirs of Maradona must be measured. The Partenopei currently has a catch-up game up its sleeve and ranks sixth in the table.
The catch-up game is the game against Juventus Turin (3rd matchday), which was initially assessed at the green table with a loss plus point deduction. This has now been revised and a catch-up date has not yet been set.
For years the kickers from the foot of Mount Vesuvius were hard to beat, especially in the home stadium, but this has changed this season. The Gattuso kickers are more successful abroad than at home.
After the surprising home defeat against newly promoted Spezia Calcio on Epiphany (despite leading), a happy answer came in Friuli against Udinese. Tiemoue Bakayoko ensured victory for the Neapolitans in stoppage time.
Although the home side will be the defending champions, SSC Napoli will by no means be full on late Wednesday afternoon. The league has priority and with the duel against Fiorentina an important game awaits at the weekend. In addition, Gattuso is almost forced to rotate because the load in the last few weeks has been enormous.
Naples has been grappling with injury concerns for a long time. Captain Lorenzo Insigne urgently needs a break, the millionaire newcomer Victor Osimhen is injured as well as Kevin Malcuit. Gattuso will probably switch vigorously and accordingly the prognosis for the home win at the current betting odds does not seem lucrative at Napoli against Empoli.
Empoli :
The last few years have been extremely dramatic for Empoli FC fans. The relegation in 2018/19 was due to the lost direct comparison with Genoa, the direct reassignment missed the team of head coach Pasquale Marino in the playoffs. Marino then went to SPAL Ferrara and Alessio Dionisi, a young coach, was appointed as his successor. The 40-year-old was poached by league competitor Venezia.
His figures so far in Tuscany are absolutely impressive. The azure blue impressively underpin the ambitions to return to Serie A and have only received one defeat in Serie B this season. The only downer is the large number of points, because Empoli leads the current table with nine wins, seven draws and one defeat.
For eleven league games, the aspirant has been without defeat. Above all, the defense is strong as goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli only conceded 14 goals in 17 league games. He was able to keep his box clean a total of seven times.
While the Italian Serie A started the year 2021 with an English week, the team from the Serie B had a quieter year 2021 so far. So far, only one league game was on the program (January 4th), which Empoli confidently won with 2: 0 could win.
This gave the underdog more than a week to prepare for this top game. Despite the lower load, the underdog will probably also start the rotary machine a little. The top game against US Salernitana (second in the table) is on the agenda next Sunday.
Napoli vs Empoli head to head matches
03.04.19 SA Empoli Napoli 2 : 1
02.11.18 SA Napoli Empoli 5 : 1
19.03.17 SA Empoli Napoli 2 : 3
26.10.16 SA Napoli Empoli 2 : 0
31.01.16 SA Napoli Empoli 5 : 1