Round 23 Matchups!
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SASSUOLO V NAPOLI After playing a much more defensive style the first half of the season, Sassuolo have been much more open of late. That has resulted in a nice run after dipping all the way to 17th in the table. On 24 points now they look to settle somewhere in that 10-15 spot they usually finish in. Napoli meanwhile remain red hot. With Champions league coming they may have to watch rotation a little more, but that just means more chances for Raspadori and Simeone. Expect goals here. The last 5 games between these 2 have featured 23 goals. Bet the over. Bet on both teams to score. NAPOLI WINS
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SAMPDORIA V BOLOGNA Both teams are coming off much different results in their last fixtures. For Samp it was a home draw against Inter. The 19th place squad drawing the second place team? Massive. Now with back to back home games can Samp parlay that into something big? Bologna on the other hand laid an egg at home losing 1-0 to Monza. Not that Monza is bad but Bologna have to do better at home if they are to nose their way into the race for 7th. They still have a lot of injuries and maybe they are starting to catch up? It will feel like a win for Samp but I’ll go with a DRAW
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MONZA V MILAN Monza are still gonna Monza. Can they Monza enough to snag that 7th spot? This guy thinks they can. They have 29 in 17 since the terrible start. Guess what? There are 17 still to go. If they can duplicate that performance they will be right there. Palladino would be coach of the year if not for Napoli and Spalletti. After a messy January Milan have been red hot. Maybe not red hot but we’re not getting killed. This game will be tough on the road. I can see Pioli rotating a bit. Then again maybe not? There’s a whole week off til the next fixture. Maybe now is the time to step on the gas? Pioli puts out the best XI and MILAN WINS
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INTER V UDINESE Inter better be super pissed after laying an egg at Samp last week. I see a huge bounce back game here. Udinese continues to struggle to score without Deulofeu. I know I keep repeating that, but I’ll keep doing that til it changes. Inter has some internal beef to get through and no one on that sideline looks happy of late. A limping Udinese will be the cure for that. Inter stomps them and charges their batteries for the CL matchup with Porto.
IN MY LOCK OF THE WEEK I SAY Lautaro scores a brace and INTER WINS
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ATALANTA V LECCE Lecce have stabilized with 4 points from their last 2. Two losses before that was certainly worrisome. Strefezza is in the form of his life with 2 goals in his last 3. The defense is stout with Falcone continuing to play well but Atalanta will put that to the test. Lecce will sit deep and invite them on. Atalanta continue their uneven home form over the last few years. They like to counter with pace and opponents like to go there to sit back and frustrate them. Lecce is kinda the perfect team to do that. For those reasons I think this game is tight but ultimately ATALANTA WINS
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FIORENTINA V EMPOLI In the league Fiorentina are winless in 5 scoring just 2 goals in that span. In Europe they have won 6 in a row while scoring 17 and conceding just 2. Jekyll and Hyde much? Empoli are their own odd batch as they are essentially just as good at home as on the road. Recently they beat Inter on the road and drew Spezia at home. One thing both have in common is neither scores much. The last 5 between these 2 have combined for just 5 goals. Let’s just move on and call this a DRAW.
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SALERNITANA V LAZIO Now for the manager bounce portion of the program. Salernitana fired Di Nicola, brought him back and then fired him again. Journeyman Paulo Sousa makes this his 13th coaching stop despite winning nearly 50% of his games. They have been horrendous since the WC break and desperately need something new. Finding someone else to score goals besides Dia would be a start. Lazio have been equally poor of late. Since getting as high as 3rd in the table they have dropped to 6th. They also come into this game without either Romagnoli or Zaccagni. The thing they do have is a back in form Immobile who smashed a banger against Cluj midweek. I’m not touching this game with a 10 foot pole but I’m saying Immobile puts the team on his back and LAZIO WINS
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SPEZIA V JUVENTUS Spezia is also looking for the new manager bounce. They have struggled mightily since making a few January sales. They are leaking goals and have only scored 4 goals in 5. Sewing up the back will be the first priority. Seeing Juve coming with a nearly in form Vlahovic and Chiesa figuring things out will not be a welcome sight. This is also a Juve team coming off an ugly midweek draw to Nantes in the Europa League. Ignore the bounce and expect a triumphant, if not very pretty JUVE WIN
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ROMA V HELLAS Roma are still clinging to 4th despite still desperately struggling to score goals. Case in point they have only conceded 5goals at home all year but have only mustered 12. It doesn’t help that Dybala was injured midweek. They played a full squad against Salzburg and lost 1-0. They now have just 1 win in 5 across all competitions. Hellas have begun their late season resurrection. They have 8 points in their last 4 and have scored in all 4 games. Granted the wins were at home to Lecce and Salernitana but you can only play who’s in front of you. Does that make this run a mirage? Perhaps. Hellas will come out and play open which may also cause Roma to do the same. Watch Ngonge who has 2 goals in just 152 minutes since arriving at Hellas. Him and Lazovic are making a nice combo. This might be a fun game to watch for the neutral.
In my UPSET OF THE WEEK I think Roma is caught sleeping, Lasagna scores and HELLAS WINS 2-1
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TORINO V CREMONESE From maybe the most fun game of the week to watch to one you should probably avoid at all costs. These 2 teams have COMBINED for 37 goals in 44 games. 4 teams in the league have more than that on their own. Torino have scored just 8 at home all season while Cremonese have only 5 on the road. Torino at lest flatter to score at times but, like in the Milan game, can’t finish. The only positive of this game is that it’s on Monday and shouldn’t ruin anyone’s weekend. Take the under. WAY UNDER. These teams might as well be golfers the way they try to shoot par or under. Watch this game at your own risk. DRAW
That’s it folks. Another whip around in the books. The table is starting to take form and it looks like we will have battles for every spot except the top one. Buckle up!
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Happy watching!
Lisi
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