Cesena vs Empoli preview - Maccarone fit and raring to go

Posted Friday, September 19, 2014 by PA

Empoli striker Massimo Maccarone is ready to play his first game of the season when his team visits Cesena on Saturday.

The Italian forward missed his side's opening two games of the new campaign with a muscle injury but is expected to start this weekend.

The Tuscan outfit head into the encounter at the Dino Manuzzi stadium confident they can claim their first win of the season.

Empoli, who lost 2-0 to Udinese in their Serie A opener, produced a solid display against Roma last weekend before falling 1-0.

"The team played a great game against Roma," Maccarone said. "The only thing that was missing for us was to score.

"But we have to continue to play with the same focus and determination and I'm confident the results will come our way.

"It's good that the team receives praise for its performances but we need to start taking points as that is the only thing that will help us avoid the drop."

Empoli, coached by Maurizio Sarri, have yet to score this season.

The veteran Maccarone, who struck 15 goals in 42 league appearances to help Empoli gain promotion to Italy's top flight last term, is ready to give his contribution in attack.

"We need to be more cynical in front of goal," the 35-year-old said. "We have to make the most of our chances."

Rivals Cesena also returned to Serie A this season.

The Cavallucci Marini enjoyed a dream start to the campaign with a 1-0 victory over Parma.

However, the Emilia-Romagna club were brought back down to earth last weekend after a 3-0 defeat at Lazio.

"We were too soft against Lazio and we deserved to lose," Cesena coach Pierpaolo Bisoli said. "Against Parma we were aggressive and that was key to our victory.

"We expect a difficult game against Empoli.

"As always we will go out to get a victory but we will need to hand a better performance than we did in Rome."