Thursday at 20.45 at the Carlo Castellani stadium Empoli-Bologna is staged, valid for the 33rd day of Serie A. In the first leg, on September 17, it ended 0-1 for Empoli. In Serie A, out of 16 direct clashes in the history of the two companies, there have been six victories of Empoli, four of Bologna and six draws.

Here Empoli

Empoli is going through a rather delicate phase: in the last ten games it has suffered seven defeats, two draws and only one victory, 1-0 against Lecce on April 3rd. If on the 19th day it was even tenth with two points more than its Tuscan rivals, Fiorentina, has now fallen to 15th position at 32. The safety distance from the relegation zone has thinned to only 5 points: Spezia and Verona, tied for third last place, are getting closer. Empoli faces the challenge against Bologna without players disqualified and with two cautions: Fazzini and Satriano. Season ended instead for De Winter, who in the game of April 14 against Cremonese reported an injury to the medial collateral ligament.

Here Bologna

Bologna is facing the current season with the determination of a lion. On Sunday he put Juventus in difficulty, who managed to grab the equalizer only half an hour from the end. In recent weeks the rossoblù have beaten Atalanta 0-2, Udinese 3-0 and Inter 1-0. But they also suffered some setbacks like the one against Verona for 2-1 or the one, more understandable, against Torino for 1-0. In the standings the rossoblù are eighth on a par with Fiorentina with 45 points. Six days from the end, the gap from seventh place, which could guarantee access to the Conference League under certain conditions, begins to be felt: Atalanta has in fact 55 points, ten more, but the last word is not yet said. The fact is that coach Thiago Motta faces the challenge of Empoli with a disqualified, Kyriakopoulos, and four warned: Dominguez, Ferguson, Posch and Skorupski. Two absent due to injury: Sansone, who should be out for a couple of weeks due to a strain of the medial twin, and Soriano who suffered a ligament injury in his right knee.

(GettyImages)

Stadio Carlo Castellani, Empoli, Italy

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