Empoli vs Juventus

The struggling Empoli are really up against the wall as Round 29 of Seria A kicks off. Not only are they threatened by relegation but they are now faced with the difficult challenge of taking on Juventus at home. Juve will be in high spirits after pulling out a clutch victory in the waning moments of their match at home to Napoli.

It has been a most testing campaign for Empoli so far in this 2007-2008 season and their challenge only seems to get harder by the day. At this time they are in 19^th place of the league table with just 25 points on the year. They sit just behind 18^th place Reggina on goal difference and are 1 point behind the 17^th place club Parma. Parma are the outfit that Empoli will need to catch if they wish to stave off relegation. In their last match the side managed by Camolese were trounced on the road by Atalanta by a score of 4-1 at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia. Making matters worse for the club is the fact that Saudati will be serving the first of a 3 match suspension in this contest against Juve. He is joined by Pratali, while Mchedlidze, Pozzi, Raggi and Marianini are all out injured. Empoli are losers of 4 straight with 2 goals scored and 11 conceded over that span.

Meanwhile, Juventus are coming off of a big win over Napoli this weekend in which Alessandro Del Piero played the role of the hero. Thanks to the victory the side managed by Claudio Ranieri are now in 3^rd place of the Serie A with 54 points on the present campaign.They are 7 points behind 2^nd place Roma and 4 points ahead of 4^th place Fiorentina. The vecchia signora are winners of 2 straight matches as they prepare for this trip to Empoli. Only 3 players have been ruled out due to injury in Andrade, Marchionni, and Zanetti but some turn over is expected given that this is a veteran squad and there will only be 3 days between matches. Iaquinta and Tiago could be options to come into the starting eleven.

While on the surface it is hard to imagine Empoli winning this match they do stand the possibility of doing well given that it is a double week. Still, chances are that Trezeguet and company will be quite a handful for the side from the Carlo Castellani. Look for Juventus to hold out for a draw.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)