Alright, Gillis here and I’m filling in for Lisi this round. A disclaimer right off the bat: I am not a Nonno, I am not Michael Lisi, and I don’t bet. HAHA! I usually don’t give predictions either so I am WAY over my head here. So, take everything I said below with a grain of salt and let’s have some fun throwing some sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks!
Matchups
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LECCE V NAPOLI After some internal strife earlier in the week, Napoli took what I’m sure they interpreted as bulletin board material and used it to have arguably their best game of the young season. Osimhen, the target of Napoli’s odd social media efforts, got on the scoresheet and Kvaratskhelia scored for the first time in about half a season’s worth of domestic games (and somewhere between 25-30 games across all competitions depending on what you count). Lecce are off to a hot start and are surprisingly occupying one of the European spots after six rounds. Will this continue? No, probably not but a top-half of the table finish is very possible. Krstovic leads the line for Lecce with 3 goals in 5 games played and of course they have Lisi’s favorite NOT-Maignan keeper in Falcone. Last season Lecce drew Napoli in their first meeting and I’m going with that again here, especially playing in Lecce. Let’s go with a 1-1 DRAW.
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MILAN V LAZIO Milan rested some players midweek and are ready for one of the better Serie A games this week. Lazio have been all over the board but mostly on the sh*tty side. Still, they have some talent and are surely better than what they’ve shown so far this season. Let’s hope that improved side waits one more round. I’ll have more to say about this tomorrow, for now I’ll say MILAN WINS 3-1.
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SALERNITANA V INTER With Inter sh*tting the bed midweek vs Sassuolo, I’m expecting a full on bloodbath for basement-sniffing Salernitana. Expect Lautaro to get on the board, Barella will do Barella things (most of it good, all of it annoying), and Salernitana will have no answers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see former Inter man Candreva nab a goal but Inter WINS in an easy 3-1 game.
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BOLOGNA V EMPLOI Coming off of three straight 0-0 games, I’m expecting Bologna to get at least 2 goals in this one as their attack, led by Zirkzee and the impressive young Scotsman Lewis Ferguson (who I really like), are due for a breakout. Thankfully Empoli are coming to town with their league-worst goals scored (1), league-worst goals allowed (13), and league-worst goal differential (-12). It’s the fabled garbage triple crown! Bologna WINS easily 2-0.
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UDINESE V GENOA Udinese are a slightly, and I do mean slightly, better version of Empoli and they suffer from all the same issues (can’t score, concede too much). Not helping are the plethora of injuries at the moment including the most consequential for them, Deulofeu. Genoa have been a pleasant surprise in their welcome-back Serie A season and are being led by the young and impressive Italian Retegui, who has already netted 3 goals this season. Being at home helps Udinese but not enough. I’m taking Genoa with the 1-0 WIN.
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ATALANTA V JUVENTUS The best matchup of the round includes the 3rd and 4th placed teams in the table. Juventus bounced back after a drubbing vs Sassoulo by beating a tough Lecce and Atalanta have run off three straight wins since losing to Fiorentina. Atalanta will be without Scamacca again but Charles De Ketelaere has played well with a goal and 2 assists so far. Juventus have been mostly good and have scored more than even the biggest Allegri fan-boys could’ve dreamed of this season. Vlahovic has looked about as close to his Fiorentina-form so far and I’m expecting goals in this. Lisi never likes Atalanta at home but think this ends in a 2-2 DRAW.
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ROMA V FROSINONE Roma…hahahaha hahahahahahaha!… *breathes*… hahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Frosinone has been another surprise team so far and I like them stealing a point at the Stadio Olimpico. They have a good, balanced attack and their defense should be good enough vs a very mediocre Roma team. I’m expecting a Mourinho yellow, plenty of complaining, and a 1-1 DRAW.
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SASSUOLO V MONZA All the signs are pointing to a Sassuolo letdown after beating the snot out of Juventus and Inter in the last week. Monza, surely ready to honor their late owner Silvio Berlusconi, are the perfect foil. I think there will be goals in this and don’t be surprised to see Berardi involved in a goal or two as well as hot-hand (foot?) Pinamonti. For Monza, Colpani has been their talisman, tallying 3 of the 4 goals they’ve scored and I think we start to see Monza pick up their pace like last season now that the calendar has turned over to October (or at least it will by the time this game is played). In an upset, I’m going with a 3-2 Monza WIN.
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TORINO V HELLAS VERONA Another dentist chair visit. Both of these teams don’t like to score and don’t like to give up much, as combined they’ve scored 10 and conceded 13. Duvan Zapata has been good since coming over late in the window so that will help but only so much. For Hellas Verona, they are a very cagey team as evidenced by their back-to-back 1-0 losses to Milan and Atalanta. Much of the credit for those games goes to Montipo, who is making a name for himself as one of Serie A’s better keepers. I think this is a hard-fought game and going with the very exciting 0-0 DRAW.
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FIORENTINA V CAGLIARI Much like the Inter-Salernitana game, this is going to be bloodbath as well. Fiorentina have been scoring with ease but the same can be said about their defense and conceding. This will help Cagliari get on the board but Italiano has built this Fiorentina to beat up on bad teams and beat up they will do. Fiorentina WIN easily 4-1.
Final Thoughts
Alright, I have zero doubt I will be uttering the words to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” after these round 7 matches…
“Now I’ve done my best, I know it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come here to The Fossa just to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand right here before the lord of song
With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah”…
Enjoy the Calcio!
gillis
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.