Pescara vs Empoli predictions, betting tips & match preview

This game on Sunday morning is a huge clash in the battle to avoid the drop in Serie A. It’s certainly a relegation six pointer, as 17th placed Pescara host 18th side Empoli. Which of these two will find themselves in the bottom three at the end of this encounter?

Obviously they’re both in serious relegation danger, having made really poor starts to the season. In fact, the quality at the bottom of Serie A this term has been so low, there are calls for a smaller league. Many Italian clubs are calling for an 18 team league, in order to raise the overall quality. You know things are bad when club owners are agreeing to sacrifice their TV deal by playing less matches. Obviously the teams at the depths of the division are really struggling to compete.

Neither of these sides have been scoring enough goals, which again shows a lack of quality. Don’t expect to see a classic here, neither side are talented enough for that. Empoli come here having failed to score in their last eight matches in Serie A. It’s been over eight hours since they last managed to find the back of the net. That’s obviously left them unable to win games, and now they’re in the relegation zone.

The Azzurri average just 0.18 goals per game, and they haven’t scored in an away game all season. That’s a run they have to end if they’re to move out of the bottom three this weekend. It’s tough to see how they can turn around, they’re far from clinical. They’ve managed to score from just 2% of their chances this season. That’s an abysmal record.

Pescara aren’t that much better, having scored just 0.67 goals per home match. They’ve failed to score in half of their matches at Stadio Adriatico this term. While they have a win down on record, they picked that up as a result of Sassuolo failing to properly register a player. That 3-0 win was actually a 2-1 defeat. Without that, they’d be even worse off than Empoli. That means they’ve actually scored just seven all season. The hosts have converted just 5% of their chances this term.

Neither are too bad defensively. Pescara concede from just 7% of the shots they’ve faced. Empoli managed to hold Roma to a 0-0 draw last weekend, they’re Serie A’s second highest scorers. Given their poor scoring records and decent defences, we can see at least one clean sheet here. That’s why we’re backing at least one clean sheet here. We’re backing against both teams to score, which is 10/11 with bet365.