Empoli will welcome Frosinone to the Stadio Carlo Castellani on Saturday afternoon, as the hosts look to bag their first Serie A home win of 2016.
The visitors are hoping to bounce back from their 2-0 loss suffered away at Juventus on Sunday, whilst Empoli will expect to improve upon their goalless draw against Atalanta.
The away side have yet to grab a win on the road this season, and have scored just eight goals outside of the Stadio Matusa. Furthermore, having kept no clean sheets on their travels, they have relied heavily on striker Federico Dionisi, who has scored in four of their five wins this season, and compensated for their worst defensive record in Serie A.
Empoli’s Riccardo Saponara has developed a good understanding with both Manuel Pucciarelli and Massimo Maccarone up front, scoring 18 between them in an fluid front three. Maccarone has bagged half of those as he appears on target to better his top flight high of 13, reached in 2007-08 for Siena.
Despite this, Giampaolo’s side have not won at home since a 3-0 victory against Carpi in mid December. Worse than that, they have failed to win in their last five and never looked like winning on Sunday.
Saponara was dismissed in the reverse fixture as Federico Dionisi sealed a 2-0 win for Frosinone with a brace. That was the first win for Canarini in Serie A after starting the campaign in poor form.
Other than that, they have not faced off since 2011 when they were both plying their trade in Serie B.
Empoli will look to seek revenge and kick-start their campaign as they look up to the European places. On the other hand, Frosinone are desperate for points as they lie in the relegation zone, five points adrift 17th place Sampdoria.
Giampoalo will likely bring in Marco Zambelli for suspended full-back Vincent Laurini, whilst Andrea Costa and Daniele Croce face late fitness tests.
Roberto Stellone meanwhile, brings a full squad to Florence with no suspensions or first team injuries.
Form Guide: Empoli (D-D-L-D-D) Frosinone (L-W-L-D-L)
Expected Starting XIs
Empoli: Skorupski; Zambelli, Tonelli, Ariaudo, Mario Rui, Zielinski, Paredes, Buchel, Saponara, Pucciarelli, Maccarone
Frosinone: Leali; Rosi, Blanchard, Russo, Pavlovic, Gori, Gucher, Sammarco, Paganini, Ciofani, Dionisi
Infographics courtesy of: https://sporticos.com/en-gb/2016-02-13/133951-match-empoli-fc-vs-frosinone-calcio
