Juventus vs Empoli: 3 key Empoli players to watch out for
The atmosphere around Turin is quite sombre. Their marquee signing of the 21st century is closer than ever to leaving the club and the city indeed. Yet, amid all this doom and gloom, Juventus are set to host Empoli this Saturday in their first home game of the Serie A 2021/22 season.
Allowing Udinese to come from a two-goal deficit, Juve missed out on the opportunity to secure three points last Sunday. Famous for his speculative future nowadays, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a thumping header to put Juventus on the lead in the dying minutes, only to see the goal being disallowed by the VAR hub.
It’s unlikely that Ronaldo will get another chance to accomplish such a miraculous deed, but Saturday’s encounter against the Tuscans will surely provide Juventus with an opportunity for redemption. Redemption is what Empoli’s coach Aurelio Andreazzoli will be seeking, following their 3-1 defeat to Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio in their curtain-raiser last weekend.
Hired for the third time by the newly-promoted Serie A club, Andreazzoli has been tasked with keeping Empoli at the top tier of the Italian footballing landscape by the end of this season. The start to the campaign might’ve not gone as planned, but at least there was promising stuff in their performance against Lazio.
Such a display will surely boost their morale before heading to Turin this Saturday.
3 Empoli players that Juventus should be aware of this weekend
Despite the scoreline not going their way, Empoli came up with a collective approach coupled with individual flashes of brilliance. Therefore, they could pose a towering hurdle in front of the Bianconeri players this Saturday at Juventus Stadium. Here we assess three key Empoli players — ahead of what could be a fascinating watch from a neutral perspective.
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1. Leonardo Mancuso
Leonardo Mancuso became a fundamental part of Empoli’s promotion-winning campaign last season. Not only did he score 20 goals, but also he bagged four assists from 37 matches in Serie B (as per the stats from FBref.com). In total, Empoli went on to score 68 goals, of which 20 were from Mancuso.
Despite losing the guidance of Alessio Dionisi, the former Empoli coach who joined Sassuolo this summer after helping Empoli gain promotion last season — Mancuso is hopeful of thriving under Aurelio Andreazzoli’s expansive style of play. The Milan-born striker, at 29, is one of the most experienced outfield players for the newbies of Serie A.
Mancuso joined Juventus from Pescara in 2018, with him being a part of a swap deal involving Cristian Bunino. However, Mancuso’s stint at Turin proved to be short-lived, as the forward went back to Pescara having agreed on an 18-month loan.
He was lined up alongside Patrick Cutrone in a two-man forward against Lazio last weekend — with the former being more of a poacher and the latter playing the role of a drifter at times, and vice versa. Cutrone’s cunning runs down the wide areas was dragging a defender out of his designated position, making some space around the 18-yard-box for Mancuso to run at. Mancuso was doing the same for Cutrone occasionally. While doing so, he registered one shot on target from attempted two, per the stats from Whoscored.com.
Juventus defenders should be aware of Mancuso’s late runs into the box. Also 6ft in stature, Mancuso has an authoritative heading ability. Set-pieces could be the medium using which the former Pescara man will be looking to snatch the first Serie A goal of his professional career.