Match report
Empoli hold out with ten men to beat Cremonese on opening day
Empoli began their Serie B campaign with a 1-0 win over Cremonese at the Stadio Carlo Castellani, a result built on an early goal and a resolute rearguard action after a red card left the hosts a man short for the final half-hour.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Stiven Shpendi struck in the 21st minute, finishing off an assist from Cristian Cauz to put Empoli ahead, and that lead stood at the interval. The contest turned on the 59th minute when Joseph Ceesay was sent off, forcing Guido Pagliuca's side to see out the remainder with ten men against Marco Giampaolo's Cremonese.
Despite playing with a numerical disadvantage for over half an hour, Empoli held firm to claim maximum points, moving to third place in the table on three points from their opening match, while Cremonese began the season without a win and sit twelfth.
Jacopo Seghetti earned the highest rating on the pitch at 7.3, while goalscorer Stiven Shpendi backed up his matchwinning finish with a 7.0 rating.
Cremonese dominated possession with 67 percent of the ball, yet it was Empoli who made their fewer touches count to secure the win.
Empoli beat Cremonese 1–0 (half-time 1–0).
Empoli met Cremonese in the Serie B (Regular Season - 1). Kick-off was Saturday, 22 August 2026, 19:00 UTC at Carlo Castellani. Referee: Paride Tremolada.
Key moments
- 21' Goal: Stiven Shpendi (assist: Cristian Cauz) — 1–0
- 59' Red card: Joseph Ceesay
Starting line-ups
Empoli (4-2-3-1)
- 12 Jacopo Seghetti
- 15 Joseph Ceesay
- 33 Cristian Cauz
- 25 Marco Curto
- 35 M. Egan
- 21 Gerard Yepes
- 8 Luca Magnino (c)
- 20 Filippo Distefano
- 10 Edoardo Saporiti
- 39 E. Biondini
- 11 Stiven Shpendi
Cremonese (4-2-3-1)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Empoli 27%, the draw 38%, Cremonese 35%. It finished Empoli 1–0 Cremonese.
Cremonese's rating edge, but the draw is in play — Cremonese are the stronger side on our strength rating, and a weak Serie B home advantage plus the early-season home fade on top give Cremonese the lean. The draw at 38% is the likeliest single result, helped by a draw-heavy league.
Why Cremonese at 35%?
Cremonese sit 198 points higher on our strength rating — 1446 to 1645. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge on the road won 40.1% of 13,069 such games. Serie B home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (32.3% vs 24.9% norm) and away wins (26.0% vs 30.2%). Serie B homes won 41.7% of 4,013 games vs 44.9% across all 99,210 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Empoli's column. Across 10,641 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.1 — negative in every season since 2018. The 300 most similar past games finished 28–30–42.
Why only 35%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 35% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 38% and Empoli at 27%.
Why is the draw the likeliest result?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 27.2%. These teams' recent games average 2.5 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 26.2% of 27,608. Serie B runs draw-heavy, adding 7.4 points. Early-season fixtures add 2.1 points to the draw.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Empoli vs Cremonese final score and result, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Serie B fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
The full match report above covers the goals, key moments and stats. Explore more on the Empoli and Cremonese team pages or the Serie B page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Empoli vs Cremonese?
Empoli beat Cremonese 1–0 (half-time 1–0).
›Who scored in Empoli vs Cremonese?
Stiven Shpendi (21') for Empoli.
›Where can I watch Empoli vs Cremonese highlights?
This page carries the full match report, stats and lineups for Empoli vs Cremonese; goal clips are added as soon as official highlights are available.
›What is the head-to-head record between Empoli and Cremonese?
Empoli and Cremonese have met 9 times — 3 wins for Empoli, 2 wins for Cremonese and 4 draws.