I’m off to a cold start but don’t let that distract you from a great slate of games. ON WE GO!
v
SALERNITANA V FROSINONE As per usual Salernitana is off to a terrible start. This is the third straight year this has happened so it’s becoming the norm. A couple coaching changes and some January moves and they will be fine. Trouble for them is it’s not even October yet. They are home and need a boost. The only thing colder than the attack has been my predcitions. Meanwhile newcomers Frosinone are off to a splendid start. 7 points from 4 and sitting 6th. Regular whipping boy Di Francesco has them scoring while defending well enough. Turati has not been great in goal and might be a candidate for change at some point. The attack will remain strong so that shouldn’t be an issue. I see goals here for sure. Take the over and let’s see if Sousa’s man can’t turn it around. I wanna say Salernitana wins. I really wanna say Frosinone continues their hot start. BUT I think we see a 2-2 DRAW
v
LECCE V GENOA Lecce continued their nice start with a draw away to Monza. They are ticking all the boxes for success. Win at home? Check. Draw on the road? Check. Solid goal keeping? Check. Timely goals? Check. Ramadani was brought in to replace Hjulmand and has done a solid job holding the center. Krstovic scored again last week to continue his hot start. Genoa have had 4 tough tests to start the year (Napoli, Lazio, Fiorentina, Torino) and have come out relatively unscathed. Retegui has a couple goals already and Gudmundsson has been a nice addition on the wing. This will be a good test for both teams, especially the Genoa defense. I think Lecce holds serve and continues to flatter to deceive in the top 4. LECCE WINS
v
MILAN V HELLAS VERONA Milan has 3 straight games at SanSiro. Lost the first, drew the second, and now they will win the third. More to come in tomorrows match post! MILAN WINS
v
SASSUOLO V JUVENTUS Tricky one here. Sassuolo has been a sieve and Juventus is slowly rounding Chiesa and Vlahovic into form. Without Europe Vlahovic will really push to be the scoring leader this term. Find odds on that one, kids. Sassuolo look ripe for the picking here but this is a stay away for me. If forced I’d take Vlahovic to score parlayed with Allegri’s men being triumphant. JUVE WINS
v
LAZIO V MONZA If Juve and Sassuolo have been predictable then Lazio are the complete opposite. Perhaps the late draw against Athletico midweek is a sign that things will start to turn around. Any more poor results and getting back to top 4 is gonna be a struggle. The defense and Immobile are concerns. They are conceding more than a goal a game and the offense just isn’t clicking. Monza meanwhile continue to Monza. They beat the bad teams, struggle against the top teams and hold their own against the middle. Colpani was frisky at moments last year but now is scoring regularly. They will make things difficult but ultimately I believe Sarri’s men escape 1-0 as LAZIO WINS
v
EMPOLI V INTER Empoli STINKS. Inter is on FIRE…. but they did have a midweek game and we could see a ton of rotation. I’m not sold on their depth yet. Empoli have shocked them in the past and are DUE. Check out the win or draw line for Empoli. Probably worth a flyer. If Sanchez starts for Inter he might also be worth a flyer to score. I’m still gonna say that INTER WINS
v
ATALANTA V CAGLIARI Atalanta have won their last 2 at home and dropped the last 2 on the road. Strange times. Also old friend CDK scored again the other day. STRANGER TIMES. As they reform the attack they are gonna need different guys to pitch in and so far so good. Scamacca has a small injury and may not start. That could mean more CDK. Cagliari are bad. Raineri will keep them respectable but in their case that means draws and narrow losses. A win here? Probably not. A draw here after Atalanta played midweek? Very possible. Like the game above take a peak at the Cagliari win/draw. Still I’ll go ATALANTA WIN
v
UDINESE V FIORENTINA Fiorentina can’t stop scoring. Italiano has them playing some really entertaining (READ: NO DEFENSE AT ALL) football this year. Udinese have 1 goal all year. They stink. Sottil is on the ropes. A loss here and he’s starting to feel the heat. Fiorentina does the job. FIORENTINA WINS
v
BOLOGNA V NAPOLI GAME OF THE WEEK Bologna continue an insane start where they have played Milan Juve, red hot Hellas Verona and now welcome Napoli. Motta’s men have not drowned though getting 5 points from 4. It’s a solid squad with their fair share of weapons. Zirksee and Orsolini lead the line but the midfield is solid and Skorupski is good in goal. Top 7 is still very real. Napoli have been uneven to say the least. They never replaced Min at CB an it shows. Kvara hasn’t scored for Napoli since March 19th. That’s 188 days. 18 appearances. 1232 minutes. It may not be time to panic yet but we are getting close. Also in the last league game he got subbed out by Garcia in the 89th minute which was just weird. Something is rotten on the island of Naples that’s for sure. An interesting game here because both teams will feel this is a game they should win. I think Bologna continues to hold strong against the top teams and Napoli continue to look at themselves in the mirror. DRAW
v
TORINO V ROMA Urich’s Torino are officially the new dentist chair of the league. Udinese used to hold that title but no longer. Torino have 3 clean sheets on the year and are usually doubly tough at home. They even scored 3 in their last time out. Some injuries may limit them so expect a grueling game. Roma meanwhile woke up in style last week putting 7 past… Empoli… easily the worst team in the league. Then they potted 2 more midweek against Sherif…. from the Moldovan league. Mirage? Maybe. Probably. I mean they are not as bad as they started but they’re not this good either. Expect drama from the players and histrionics from the coaches. Lots of diving. Lots of complaining. You know what you won’t see? GOALS. Take the DRAW. Maybe even bet on a 0-0 DRAW for fun. Whatever you do just don’t sit down and watch.
Final Thoughts
Gonna be a lot of movement this week. Some midtable showdowns and chances for surprise teams to continue their early runs. It’s not the best league in the world for nothing, kids!
Enjoy the Calcio!
Lisi
PS: If you enjoy making a few bets the KICKS and PICKS PODCAST is a must listen. They touch on a lot of Serie A action but also have their eyes on other leagues across Europe. Fun show with excellent insight. Great for anyone new to the betting scene.