Juventus vs Empoli Match Preview and Prediction

By John


 Two consecutive 2-0 defeats, including one at the hands of Israeil side Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League, plunged Juventus further into crisis and piled on even more pressure on under-fire boss Massimiliano Allegri. Perhaps stung by those setbacks and an unwanted training retreat, the players responded to record a crucial 1-0 Derby della Mole victory over Torino in their last Serie A (SA) outing. Every game is a must-win now for Allegri and next up are a tricky Empoli side who won here 1-0 in August 2021 in what was incidentally his first SA home match of his second stint as Juventus boss.


Juventus have at least already started their home resurgence, winning consecutive matches here and netting exactly three goals in each to soothe building pressure on Allegri. The last time Juve scored 3+ goals in more than two straight home outings was way back in March 2021, whilst they could also now register three victories in a row at the Allianz Stadium for the first time since the January-February period this year (when they recorded four) to further ease burgeoning nerves in Turin.


Empoli could be seen as an ideal opponent for completing that task, as their surprising victory in August 2021 was preceded by a whopping nine-consecutive defeats in competitive away H2Hs. Paolo Zanetti's men did celebrate their second victory in four SA matches (D1, L1) against in-from Monza last weekend, striking early and holding on to secure a 1-0 victory.


The visitors may have only won twice on the road in SA this calendar year, but encouragingly both victories have come in their last six such outings, with Empoli losing just one away league match this term (W1, D3, L1). We may be witnessing a change from a typically home-oriented side to solid travellers as the Tuscany side also collected more away points (24) than at home (17) last season too!


Players to watch: Dušan Vlahović has three goals from his three appearances against Empoli, but was on the winning side just once, though that was in a Juventus shirt (W1, L2). Nicolas Haas scored his first SA goal to give Empoli a valuable victory last weekend and four of his last five strikes came before the 35th minute.


Hot stat: There has been a goal scored inside the opening 35 minutes in each of Juve's seven competitive home matches this season.

Fottennis Prediction: Juventus 2 Empoli 1

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