Cesc Fabregas's Como will look to continue their surge away from relegation trouble in Serie A when they host Empoli in Northern Italy on Saturday.
The Lariani are now best placed out of all the sides clustered near the bottom to survive this season, while Empoli's dreadful form in 2025 has them in serious danger of the drop.
Match preview
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Despite a slight stutter in recent weeks, Como's relegation fears are easing week-by-week, even though they fell to a narrow defeat at AC Milan before the international break.
The short trip to San Siro saw Fabregas's men beaten 2-1 by the Rossoneri, just a week after they also dropped points at home to Venezia, but they remain 13th and a comfortable seven points clear of trouble.
Como also have the luxury of eight of their final nine games this season being against other sides in the bottom half, apart from their season finale at home to Inter Milan.
That is no guarantee of picking up results, but the Biancoblu have performed well against difficult opposition in 2025 so far, most notably beating Napoli and Fiorentina.
Across their last eight matches at the Sinigaglia, Como have picked up 13 points, which would rank them sixth in Serie A for all teams across that same period, while only Bologna and Roma have scored more goals.
With the money that has been pumped into the club over the past year, it is no surprise to see Fabregas's side performing well in the final third, and they have found the net in six straight Serie A games for the first time since 1951.
However, failing to find the right balance has been costly too, especially when it is taken into consideration that Como have failed to keep a clean sheet at home in any of their last six matches here, and that goes a long way to explaining why relegation fears have not yet been fully extinguished.
For visitors Empoli, there are some positives for them to take into this clash, none more so than the fact they beat Como in the reverse fixture, a result which remains their only home league win this season.
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However, the thought of relegation back to Serie B after nearly a half-decade in the top flight is very real for the Azzurri Empolesi, thanks to a run of 14 games without a win in the league.
Only Reims are on a longer such run in Europe's top-five leagues, and what makes matters worse is that Roberto D'Aversa's side are failing to even pick up the odd draw here and there, as 11 of those 14 matches have ended in defeat.
After taking 19 points from their opening 15 games, some supporters will have had their sights set on battling for a spot in the top half, but since the turn of the year, it has gone badly wrong for the Tuscans.
Empoli now find themselves three points below the dotted line, one year after only surviving relegation by one point, and an attack that has scored just 23 goals so far this season look incapable of firing them out of trouble.
Away form has been better, though, with three of their four wins this season coming on the road, and they also won away to Juventus in the Coppa Italia at the end of February, setting up a two-legged semi-final with Bologna which will start in midweek.
Team News
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Como's Argentinian international Nico Paz will be unavailable due to suspension after he was booked late on in the defeat to Milan, but after travelling back from South America late this week, it is not the worst time for the youngster to have a weekend off.
It was a debut to forget for Dele Alli, who returned after nearly two years out of the game with a red card against Milan, and he will join Paz on the sidelines with a ban of his own.
To make matters worse, Alberto Dossena was forced off with a serious knee injury just 15 minutes after coming off the bench for Como in that one, and his season appears to be over, while Ivan Azon is yet to make his debut since a January move from Real Zaragoza.
Empoli will be without Alberto Grassi after he underwent surgery on a hand fracture last week, joining a very long list of absentees for the visitors.
Youssef Maleh, Pietro Pellegri, Saba Sazonov, Mattia Viti, Nicolas Haas and Szymon Zurkowski will all miss out with knee injuries, while Jacopo Fazzini and Tino Anjorin are recovering from hamstring problems.
Liberato Cacace will also be assessed after being part of the New Zealand squad that sealed their place at the World Cup in the last week, playing in both matches and having an exhausting flight back from Oceania.
Como possible starting lineup:
Butez; Smolcic, Goldaniga, Kempf, Valle; Da Cunha, Caqueret; Strefezza, Ikone, Diao, Douvikas
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Sambia, Ismajli, Marianucci; Gyasi, Henderson, Kovalenko, Pezzella; Kouame, Esposito, Cacace
We say: Como 2-1 Empoli
Como's form has taken a turn for the worse during March, including only drawing at home to 19th-place Venezia, but after a spirited showing at San Siro, the hosts should be confident of ending their recent winless run.
Few teams have suffered as long a winless run than Empoli have anywhere in Europe this season, and even though this will be highlighted as one of their winnable remaining games, they have shown little to suggest the awful streak will come to an end here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
