Empoli vs. Roma: Key Battles That Will Shape Serie A Game
Roma enjoyed the perfect start to the Serie A season, beating old rivals Fiorentina 2-0 at the Olimpico. For Empoli, the opening weekend of the league was a very different affair, as they endured a baptism of fire at the hands of Udinese and Antonio Di Natale on their return to the top flight.
The Tuscans would desperately like a win against one of Italy's heavyweights at home, but it's hard to see any side other than Juventus really being able to test this Giallorossi side at full strength.
That said, this year's Scudetto is likely to be won and lost by games like these, and both the Lupi and Juve will need to be careful to avoid the kind of slip up against a provincial side that in the past has cost so many teams a coveted title.
Francesco Tavano vs. Konstantinos Manolas and Davide Astori
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It's unlikely that Konstantinos Manolas and Davide Astori will be Roma's main centre-back pairing for the whole season, but with Leandro Castan still working his way back to full fitness, the two new signings look set for another outing alongside one another against Empoli.
Francesco Tavano, the well-travelled striker who had an uneventful spell at the Stadio Olimpico back in 2007, came out boldly predicting a 2-1 win for the Tuscans against his former team, telling the Gazzetta dello Sport (here in English via football-italia.net):
"Empoli will win on Saturday. It will be 2-1 to us. Our defeat at Udinese hid the fact that we played well and we were only defeated because of our errors.
I know how hard our Coach works, he pays attention to details like few others. He’ll tell us all about Roma so we’ll take to the field in the knowledge of how to cause them problems.
He reminds me quite a lot of Luciano Spalletti actually.
"
Tavano played under Spalletti at Roma, but managed just two goals. This is now his second spell at Empoli, having also played in Tuscany at Livorno for several seasons. He's never been a prolific scorer, but current boss Maurizio Sarri will be hoping that Tavano is motivated for the meeting with his old employers and that he can make the difference.
Simone Verdi vs. Daniele De Rossi
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Co-owned by Torino and AC Milan, Simone Verdi is a trequartista in the classical mould. Once thought to be too slight for the big time, the 22-year-old has bulked up while at Empoli and last season put his injury woes behind him to suggest that he could be a star in the making.
Verdi made 41 appearances in Serie B last term, scoring five times and providing seven assists from midfield. Deployed behind the strikers by Maurizio Sarri, he'll have to best Daniele De Rossi if he wants to make an impact against Roma.
Empoli fans have given the young star a Brazilian-style nickname, Verdinho, because of his skilful play, but this weekend he'll be in for a steep—and potentially valuable—learning curve facing up against one of the best all-round midfielders in the game.
Gervinho vs. Empoli's Full-Backs
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Elseid Hysaj is just 20 years old, and though he's been playing for Empoli for some time now, the young Albanian hasn't faced anything like the pace he'll encounter from Gervinho this weekend. The same goes for his teammate Vincent Laurini, a 25-year-old French journeyman who's been at the Stadio Carlo Castellani since 2012.
Roma possess great strength on the flanks with both Gervinho and Juan Iturbe, and it should cause plenty of problems for the Azzurri, who struggled with Udinese's width last week, coming from Silvan Widmer in particular.
Radja Nainggolan vs. Daniele Croce & Co.
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Daniele Croce was probably Empoli's best performer in their season-opening defeat to Udinese, but this weekend he'll be up against a higher level of oposition in Miralem Pjanic and Radja Nainggolan.
Nainggolan was superb for Roma in their 2-0 win over Fiorentina, providing the assist for Gervinho's parried shot before pouncing on the rebound to score the Giallorossi's first. He also set up the Ivorian for Roma's second.
Croce, now 32, has had a solid career with lower-league teams, but dealing with the Giallorossi's talented Bosnian and Belgian midfielders will be a new experience.
Davide Moro vs. His Employers
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Empoli captain Davide Moro has been at the club since 2002, but is out of contract at the end of the season, and heavily linked with a move to Vicenza back in Serie B, per tuttomercatoweb.com here, in Italian.
Should he start, the veteran midfielder could desperately do with a strong performance against one of the league's best sides to show that he's still of use in Tuscany.
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