Empoli, important returns for the final rush. But there is a new problem: Ismajli still out

by Simone CioniEMPOLIShaving used the break to recover some energy and some of the injured players are back at disposal Screws, Fazzini e solbakken, Empoli is preparing to launch the sprint for salvation from Como. While on the one hand the above-mentioned returns make D'Aversa smile, who will once again have a few more choices, the bad news is that he stops again Ismaili. The central defender returned to Empoli on Wednesday after his match against Albania, where he suffered a new muscle strain that prevented him from playing the two World Cup qualifying matches. Yesterday he tried to train with his teammates, but the situation did not improve and he will therefore be forced to skip tomorrow's away match. It would have been important for Empoli to have both Viti and Ismajli back, given that when they both played, D'Aversa's team conceded 23 goals in 20 matches at an average of 1,15 goals per game, while in the four matches in which both were missing, 10 goals were scored. At this point, it is likely that Marianucci will start once again alongside Viti as the central defender of the defensive trio with one of Goglichidze and De Sciglio on the right. The presence of Ismajli, as seen in the first half of the Coppa Italia against Juventus and in the last match before the break in Turin with the Granata, allows Empoli to maintain a certain defensive attitude and be more aggressive a few meters further forward. An aggressiveness that will be fundamental tomorrow to try to put in difficulty a team that so far has collected less than it deserved and that has often shown a rather pleasant football.

Fabregas' team is in fact good at alternating possession situations in which they are able to move the ball from one side of the pitch to the other with others in which they immediately look for verticalization for the strikers, but given the Spanish coach's marked offensive nature, when he sets up Como he tends to concede spaces on the counterattack, especially if they lose the ball in the opponent's half. It is here, therefore, that captain Grassi and his teammates will have to be good and clear-headed to get out of the first opponent's counterattack, Como is the fourth team in Serie A for intensity of pressing, to then be able to exploit with the necessary quality in the passes those meters of pitch that could open up in front of them. A positive note for the Azzurri is certainly the absence of Nico Paz, who in addition to being the best scorer of the Lombardy team together with the former Cutrone, is also the player who has taken the most shots and the one who has participated in the greatest number of actions that have then ended with a shot on goal.