Empoli vs Cremonese Preview: Home Fortress Meets Travelling Trouble in Serie B Opener
Elena Santos ·
Last updated 15 August 2026. With a week to go until the opening whistle at Saturday's 20:00 UK kickoff, the picture for this Serie B encounter is becoming clearer. Empoli host Cremonese on 22 August in what the data frames as a genuinely open contest, but one with a fairly distinct thread running through it: Empoli are a very different animal at home than they are anywhere else, and Cremonese are a team that simply cannot keep the ball out of their own net on their travels.
The Context
Both clubs are starting fresh in the 2026 Serie B season, with the current standings showing zero points played for either side. The form data we are working from covers their recent competitive matches, and it tells quite a story. Empoli finished 15th in the previous Serie B campaign, collecting 41 points from 38 games, a season of grinding draws and narrow defeats that ultimately kept them in the division without ever suggesting they belonged much higher. Cremonese come into the new season ranked 18th in the pre-season table, which gives you a sense of where expectations sit for Roberto Gorini's side.
But here is what nobody is asking. Empoli's overall form across their last ten games reads DWLDLLLWDD, which is not exactly a statement of intent. Two wins, four draws, four defeats. Their momentum slope across those ten matches is essentially flat. Strip away the away fixtures, though, and you get a completely different team.
Empoli at Home: A Completely Different Story
Their last five overall results read DWLDL, which looks poor on the surface. But two of those defeats came away from home, where across five matches they have managed zero wins, one draw, and four losses, conceding seven goals and scoring just two. Empoli away from Empoli is a different proposition entirely. Empoli at home is worth watching.
Cremonese: A Team That Leaks Goals Away From Home
Cremonese's recent numbers are equally illuminating, though considerably less encouraging for travelling supporters. Across their last five away matches, they have won two, drawn none, and lost three. Four goals scored, seven conceded. Their away xG for sits at just 1.07, against an xG against of 1.38, suggesting the underlying numbers are actually worse than the raw scoreline indicates in some of those games.
Their shots on target per game away from home is just three. Possession average of 56.5 percent suggests they like to control the ball, but the output has not matched that control. A clean sheet percentage of 40 percent away is not catastrophic, but BTTS has only landed in 20 percent of their away games in the last five, which is a crucial detail we will come back to.
The real question is whether Cremonese can replicate their occasional away wins or whether they arrive in Tuscany as the leaky, low-output side their away xG suggests they frequently are. Their overall last-ten form reads LWWLLDLLWL, which shows flashes of quality but no real consistency.
Team News
No injury data has been reported in the data sheet at this stage. Both squads appear to be heading into the new campaign without significant known absences, though that is worth monitoring as the week progresses and closer-to-matchday updates arrive.
The Verdict
Empoli's home record is the central thread here. They are unbeaten in five at the Castellani, they score goals, and they face a Cremonese side who carry a genuinely poor away attacking record into this fixture. The model's edge on the home win is real but moderate. The BTTS No call is where the more confident signal sits, and the form data backs it up.