Empoli vs Cremonese
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Today’s free tip is in the Italian Serie B encounter between Empoli and Cremonese.
People backing Empoli in this game doesn’t surprise me. They’re a good team, and are better than Cremonese, simply put. Empoli tend to be strong at home, and as always, are talked about in the promotion discussion. Personally, I think that’s beyond them right now but they’re good enough to give it a go, and anyone can get promoted from Serie B, really – just ask Spezia!
They’ve got a lot of good attackers, Empoli, and they’ve even played well enough for forgotten man Matos to remember what it’s like to score a goal – and it’s been a while, believe me! La Mantia and Mancuso are the main men though, smashing goals in at will. They bring a wealth of experience and finesse to this team, and they don’t half get around the final third! Their movement is very impressive, and that basically makes them responsible for everything good that Empoli do, whether they’re scoring or creating. With Haas tucked in front of the back four in midfield, everybody else is free to roam forward, and they seldom pass up on such opportunities.
Subsequently, Empoli commit lots of men forward, overloading their opponents, and scoring goals. They’re good at playing that way; Dionisi has got it off to a T. The less said about their defence the better, though. They rely on their midfield to keep the ball moving in their possession; that’s all that stops Empoli from getting annihilated at the back on a regular basis. The trouble tonight for the home team, though, and the main reason I won’t be one of the ones backing the home win, is that a lot of their midfielders are out. Bajrami, Ricci, and Bandinelli are all on the sidelines here. I’m not concerned about their attack; La Mantia and Mansuco will make things happen with or without the midfield. I’m not sure they can stop Cremonese from getting at their defence though, and Cremonese will score goals if that happens.
But Cremonese could go defensive here and wait for opportunities to come, right? Wrong. Cremonese are missing pretty much all of their defenders tonight. Fornasier being on the sidelines is nothing new (but they do still miss him as he’s their best defender, in my opinion), but Zortea, Ravanelli, and Crescenzi are out too, leaving veteran Terranova and Bianchetti to do it all by themselves. Ouch. They don’t keep teams out as it is, Cremonese, let alone with all these defenders out. No, I’m afraid Cremonese will do their usual trick in Empoli tonight; attack. It’s their only hope of getting something positive, and you know what? I wouldn’t bet against it.
Valzania is a cracking central midfielder; too good for this level, in my opinion. Getting into that Atalanta Bergamo midfield right now is a bitch though, hence another loan move. Gustafson is too good for this level; he’s proven that in the past. Having a big target man like Strizzolo or Ciofani up top always gives Cremonese a route to goal too. The latter hasn’t bagged this season but has played a big role in creating chances. Strizzolo has got amongst the goals more, but both are very handy players to have at this level. Let’s not overlook Castagnetti either, who was marvellous last season, and is beginning to come into his own this season too. There are a lot of attacking options here, and a manager that wants to encourage such play.
With that in mind, I can only see one thing coming tonight; goals! I refuse to believe either team can contain the other so backing over 2.5 goals at 4/5 seems very logical indeed to me.
Verdict: Over 2.5 goals at 4/5.
Tuesday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Copa Libertadores:
Palmeiras vs Libertad Asuncion
Copa Sudamericana:
Universidad Catolica vs Velez Sarsfield
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Royal Excel Mouscron vs OH Leuven
Cercle Brugge vs Sporting Charleroi
RSC Anderlecht vs KV Oostende
Bulgarian A PFG:
Etar vs Montana
Czech Republic Liga 1:
Mlada Boleslav vs Banik Ostrava
Karvina vs Baumit Jablonec
Bohemians 1905 vs Marila Pribram
Sigma Olomouc vs Ceske Budejovice
Viktoria Plzen vs Teplice
English Premier League:
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Chelsea
Manchester City vs West Bromwich Albion
German Bundesliga:
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Borussia Moenchengladbach
Hertha Berlin vs Mainz 05
Werder Bremen vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
VfB Stuttgart vs Union Berlin
German Bundesliga 2:
Heidenheim vs Jahn Regensburg
Hamburger SV vs SV Sandhausen
Hannover 96 vs VfL Bochum
Greuther Furth vs Darmstadt 98
Hungarian Liga 1:
Varda SE vs Ujpest
Fehervar vs Puskas FC
Italian Serie A:
Udinese vs Crotone
Benevento vs SS Lazio
Italian Serie B:
Reggiana vs Frosinone
Ascoli vs Cosenza
Cittadella vs Vicenza
Empoli vs Cremonese
Monza vs Virtus Entella
Pisa vs Pescara
Pordenone vs Brescia
Salernitana vs Lecce
SPAL vs Chievo Verona
Spanish Primera Liga:
Real Madrid vs Athletic Club
Swiss Challenge League:
FC Schaffhausen vs FC Wil
Stade Lausanne-Ouchy vs Winterthur
Grasshopper Zurich vs Chiasso
Neuchatel Xamax vs FC Thun
SC Kriens vs Aarau
Turkish Super Lig:
Ankaragucu vs Hatayspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!