Reggina vs Empoli Match preview

Italian Serie A: Reggina vs Empoli

Reggina - Empoli

The teams will start this game in different mood. There`s quite an exhilaration in Calabria after a great win at Sicily. They knocked down Catania and it`s a great chance for Reggina against Emnpoli. They`re 2 points ahead of relegation threatened Parma, the schedule works in their favor i.e. Catania playing away against Juventus. With 3 points, Calabresis won`t have to wait for final round to decide their fate in the game against Cagliari. On the other side, Empoli are just a step away from disaster. Even if they gain a point at Granillo and win over Livorno in season`s final 90 minutes, as expected, they`ll still depend on other teams` results. That`s why Cagni and his squad must play to win this game by all means. It`ll be a difficult task to accomplish, since the coach is a traditionalist and is not used to playing offensively. Empoli were simply very lucky when winning in Genoa and Torino. They simply waited for their chance from counter-attacks and scored the winner with many help from luck. When attacking is needed, Empoli face many problems.

Nicola Amoruso led Reggina towards survival

The experienced forward kept their hopes alive through his goals in first championship part, somehow managing to make up for last summer`s leaving of Rolando Binachi...if Reggina manage to survive, it will be mostly due to popular Nick. He scored his 100th goal in Serie A last week at Massimino. Surely he has seen better days, he used to play for great Juventus, but he could not cope with amazing competition at the time. Reggina made a giant step towards survival getting previously unknown Orlandi to retain coach Ulivieri`s place. He will probably earn himself another contract, if they manage to survive. He made many changes, encouraged the players, showed much more will to take chances than his precursor. It might easily turn out to be the right decision.

Empoli missed a penalty against Udinese

Super-talented Seba Giovinco failed to prevail over Handanović. It shouldn`t be held against him, he was yet again the best player on pitch and the main problem is that there are no adequate players to work with. Cagni got no classic forward on the team, the season is finished for Pozzi, Saudati is always banned or out of shape. It`s a situation where Empoli are forced to play with mezzapuntas. That kind of tactics modification puts some limits for their performance and it clearly showed against Udinese. They had the ball in their possession, were dominant in midfield, but it all breaks on the way towards opponent`s goal. It can give results when playing away, but home games proved their tactics to be feeble and with no results. Empoli are in a very delicate position and it`s very unlikely they`ll play in Serie A the following season.

Betting verdict

It`s a tough game to bet on, Reggina are a better squad, got the advantage of home soil, but Empoli play much better away lately. It makes it hard for visitors that they must play to win, but knowing Cagni it`s not impossible that his side will try to make a surprise from counter-attacks. Reggina will take a trip to Cagliari in final round and gaining a point there would get them to quote 38 – guaranteed survival. At this stage a good calculation is sometimes more important than a good performance. Under 2.5 goals is the safest bet for games such as these. It will be a cautious game in first half at least, both teams will be concentrated and will try to prevent an early goal.

Team news : Aronica is suspended for Reggina while Budel wont play for Empoli.

Our tip: Bet 6 on Under 2.5 goals
Odds 1.82 at
Bookmaker: Bet365