It has been a poor start for both these teams this season but these Roma vs. Empoli predictions suggest it will be the Giallorossi who come out of the international break in better form.
1 – Roma to win – 4/9
2 – Under 2.5 goals scored – 10/11
3 – Both teams not to score – 4/6
4 – Romelu Lukaku to score first – 4/1
5 – Roma to win 2-0 – 5/1
Jose Mourinho’s Roma have endured a miserable start to the season, with the injury list seeming to grow longer each day. But there is some encouraging news on that front for the Giallorossi now and a first win of the campaign looks to be on the cards this Sunday evening.
Roma will start match day four in the bottom three but have a great chance of climbing the table with the visit of Empoli. One of the reasons for that is that Mourinho might be able to start with an attacking front two of Romelu Lukaku and Paulo Dybala.
Dybala looks like he will be fit to play after an injury and Lukaku could get a first start at the Stadio Olimpico. In fact, with the Belgian striker enjoying a fine history of scoring on his debut for his various clubs, a bet on Lukaku to find the net first this weekend could be worth a go.
Empoli boss Paolo Zanetti will be frantically trying to figure out how to keep his side in the Italian top flight. Three defeats from three is not a great start – and the fact that the Azzurri have been unable to score a single goal so far will be a major concern.
Zanetti will have been happy that the club was able to fend off any interest for Tommaso Baldanzi until at least January, but the exciting young talent cannot do everything on his own and Empoli will struggle against the talent of Roma.
Already knocked out of the Coppa Italia at the hands of Serie B side Cittadella, Zanetti might be in danger of being the first Serie A coach to lose his job this season. That shouldn’t happen this weekend, but it is also unlikely that he will be celebrating anything either.
Roma vs. Empoli can be live streamed on the bet365 website. Customer account holders need to have funds in their account or have placed a bet in the 24 hours before kick off to access the action from the Stadio Olimpico.
| Player | Total goals |
|---|---|
| 13 | |
| 11 | |
| 7 | |
| 4 | |
| 3 |
| Player | Total goals |
|---|---|
| 4 | |
| 4 | |
| 3 | |
| 3 | |
| 2 |
Roma (3-5-2): Patricio; Ndicka, Llorente, Smalling; Çelik, Cristante; Bove, Paredes, Zalewski; Dybala, Lukaku
Empoli (4-3-3): Berisha; Bereszyński, Walukiewicz, Luperto, Pezzella; Maleh, Marin, Fazzini; Baldanzi, Caputo, Gyasi
Jose Mourinho continues to need to change around his starting XI, with Gianluca Mancini likely to miss this one after pulling out of the Azzurri camp with an injury. But the most exciting news is that both Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku could start.
Paolo Zanetti has no new injury problems but will probably still be without the services of Daniel Maldini for the trip to Rome. Emmanuel Gyasi may come into the side but the main focus will be trying to stop Roma down the other end on Sunday.
