Soccer

Serie A tips: Empoli, Lecce, Cagliari and Sassuolo expected to contribute in Monday night goal rush

Seb Sternik11 December 2023

Sassuolo Kristian Thorstvedt

The weekend might be over, but the Italians are serving up a double dose of football this Monday night. We’ve decided to have a closer look and throw in a couple of tips for your benefit.

In order to get high scoring games, you need one of two ingredients. The first is having a team that know how to find the back of the net. We’re talking about the likes of Man City, PSG or even - can’t believe we’re saying this - Girona.

The other ingredient is having a team that couldn’t keep a clean sheet against an U12s Sunday league team.

Fortunately for us, three of the four teams in action on Monday night boast some of the worst defensive records in the league this season.

With that in mind, strap yourselves in, finish off that coffee, read the following preview and prepare for an action-packed – fingers crossed – night of Italian football.

Empoli vs Lecce (5.30 GMT – TNT Sports)

Empoli can’t score and can’t defend. I’m sorry, Blues fans, but that’s just the cold hard truth. Any complaints, send them to our colleagues at wedontcare@dealwithit dot com.

But seriously, the situation is bad. In fact, we’re actually astonished how Aurelio Andreazzoli’s men have managed to accumulate 11 points.

This is a side that has scored nine goals from 14 games - the lowest number in the league. They’ve also conceded 26 times, making them the second-worst defensive side in the competition.

I know what you’re thinking, Lecce will smoke them.

But the truth is, we don’t think they will. When it comes to games away from home, Lecce are winless, picking up four draws and losing twice.

Half of all Lecce’s games this season have ended in draws and you know what, we’re backing another one on Monday.

Both teams to score in a draw is the way to go.

Cagliari vs Sassuolo (7.45 GMT – TNT Sports)

Do you remember when we spoke about poor defending at the start of this piece. Well, we mainly had this fixture in mind.

Both of these teams have been involved in 14 league games so far, and incredibly they have conceded a combined 52 goals.

Sassuolo are four points above the bottom three but that’s due to the fact they’ve also scored 21 times and picked up four victories.

Poor Cagliari have not been so lucky, scoring just 13 times and winning twice.

This should be an interesting clash as Cagliari have picked up 80% of their league points at home, while Sassuolo have a half-decent away record.

Alessio Dionisi's side might be a tad dodgy at the back, but their ability to score goals provides us with enough confidence to back them. However, with Cagliari playing at home, we do expect them to have some say in this match.

With that in mind, Sassuolo to win and both teams to score is the way to go.