The mediocre attacks of Empoli and Lecce are hampering these teams from making significant progress in their results. Betting odds suggest that their upcoming encounter may be the least spectacular in the next round — a goalless draw might even be acceptable for both sides.
Empoli's away match against Venezia (1:1) brought them a precious point, but it hasn't helped them extend their lead over the relegation zone, which stands at three points. D'Aversa's players haven’t won in over a month, collecting just one point from their last four Serie A matches — only Monza have performed worse in this stretch (0 points). The Blues sit at the bottom of the league for xG (17.55), and in terms of xGA (25.65), they have been fortunate not to concede three more goals (with 22 goals against).
Lecce show slightly better attacking capabilities than their immediate rivals, with an expected goals tally of 19.13. However, the red-and-blue team ranks second from the bottom in terms of shot efficiency, having lost out on more than eight accurate shots. Under Giampaolo, the team has struggled to escape the relegation battle and has only managed to score two goals in nine away matches.
Since summer 2022, Empoli and Lecce have had a streak of five encounters with under 2.5 goals, including a lackluster 1:1 draw in November. It seems the underdogs have no intention of breaking their dull scoring trend.
