WE’RE BACK BABY! Serie A returns tomorrow which means it’s year 3 of the Weekend Whip Around here at the Fossa. For those new I take a look at every matchup for the week, pick a result and offer some betting ideas along the way. Sometimes the advice is good…sometimes crap! That’s for you to do decide. Now without further delay it is once again time to WHIP IT A-ROOOOOUUUUUNNNDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matchups
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GENOA V INTER The defending champs return and start the season on the road at Genoa. Inter return almost everyone and have added some depth. I expect to see them roll out a full lineup in order to start things on the right foot. Gilardino’s men started poorly last year but righted the ship as the season went on. They finished a 11th, just 4 points behind 9th place Torino. They didn’t add parts as much as they kept some of the guys they had last year on loan. That includes De Winter, Thorsby and Vitinha. Also news comes today that they have sold Gudmundsson to Fiorentina and are bringing on Pinamonti from Sassuolo. A team in flux against the defending champs? INTER WINS
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PARMA V FIORENTINA Parma’s back baby! And they have the MAN! Dennis Man that is. Other than that I can’t say I know much about Parma. Other than a LOT of folks are picking them to go straight back down. Meanwhile I love Fiorentina as a dark horse this year. Palladino is the new coach and he’s brought his right hand man in Colpani along with him. Besides him they also acquired CB Pongracic from Lecce and ST Moise Kean from Juve. Worth a flyer on Kean and Colpani as AGS tomorrow. Love that new guy bounce. Speaking of new guys, that Gudmundsson sale I just spoke of above in the Inter-Genoa match, he’s joining Fiorentina as well. Wanna take a flyer on a top 4 team? I’d say go with Fiorentina. FIORENTINA WINS
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MILAN V TORINO Tune in tomorrow to the matchday preview here at the Fossa!
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EMPOLI V MONZA Deep breath here. Oh boy. Traditionally both of these groups start slow and pick up the points they need starting in December. Especially Empoli. Monza have brought in Nesta to be the coach this year. Should be interesting as his coaching stints have been up and down. Of course he’s a Galliani favorite as he was the one to bring Nesta to Milan. He will have some big shoes to fill as Palladino did a great job at Monza. He will also have to replace both DiGregorio in goal and Colpani out wide. Big losses there. This game feels like a bit of a clunker. DRAW
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BOLOGNA V UDINESE Bologna was my dark horse last year and they made me look like a genius. For that reason I will always be indebted to them and Thiago Motta. Now though? Not so much. Italiano is in and Motta is out. Not a terrible switch. There is work to be done…more of a reconfiguration than a rebuild though. Some big names are out. Some decent names in. Also keep in mind they still have Orsolini up top, Fabbian in the midfield and Posch in the back. Not bad. Udinese? They stink. BOLOGNA WINS
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HELLAS V NAPOLI I took Hellas to go down and Napoli to finish 7th.
What’s that?
You say you need more than that? FINE. Hellas was the only team Napoli swept last year. Other than that they were a mess. Especially on the road. Betting against them last year was the move. Taking the other team on a DC was solid gold. Same thing in the Coppa last week. Sticking with that ’til proven wrong. Take Hellas for the DRAW
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CAGLIARI V ROMA Cagliari signed EDF as their coach. Go ahead and bet them to get relegated RIGHT NOW. Roma have work to do and are doing it. They are slashing wages and shipping out vets daily. It’s the right move for a team that spent way too much to placate an out of date bum of a coach. De Rossi understands the plan. They will be much better but it will take time. It certainly won’t mean top 4 this year I promise you that. Fun fact here…Roma have only lost once in their last 15 trips to Cagliari. I’d say go Roma DC and over. New guy Soule TSOA. ROMA WINS
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LAZIO V VENEZIA Can anyone out there name me Lazio’s coach? How ’bout their striker? Yeah me neither. Been very quiet on the Lazio front this summer. They did redeem Guendouzi which was a good move. Noslin from Verona was smart as well. Is it enough? Hard to say. The rest of the squad from their title push 4 years ago is gone now though. Could finally be the year they slip back to 9th or 10th. Might take them a minute to figure this out. Fortunately Venezia comes to town, the current favorite to finish 20th. Great kits, terrible football. LAZIO WINS
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LECCE V ATALANTA Lecce return to attempt to stay up once again. They’ve sold a LOT of pieces this summer so it might be a bridge to far this time. Fortunately they return Falcone in goal. The guy has been amazing the last 2 years keeping them up. This is also a good time to catch Atalanta. They lost Scamacca for the year, had a midweek game and also still have some business to do so the roster is in flux. Fun fact: over the last 2 seasons Lecce have beaten Atalanta twice. Not too many teams in Serie A can say that. Feels like Lecce could get an early surprise here. DRAW
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JUVENTUS V COMO Como come in the promotion darlings of the season. They have a pretty stadium, a pretty coach and a bunch of dinosaur-like veterans with a lot of familiar names. Will they be any good…or like Monza a few years back will they realize in 8 weeks they are gonna have to blow it up to survive. 41 year old Pepe Reina? Come on man. This sounds like a joke. Meanwhile Juve start at home with a new coach, new players and a GIGANTIC point to prove. I see an epic beat down coming. JUVE WINS
Final Thoughts
It’s too early to have much an opinion on these games. Most teams in the league have new coaches so tendencies are tough to figure. Also with Euros, Copa and Olympics this summer quite a few players are just getting back from much needed time off and aren’t quite up to fitness yet. Finally the window is open for 2 more weeks. As I mentioned above, just this afternoon Gudmundsson moved from Genoa to Fiorentina and Pinamonti replaced him after leaving Sassuolo. Still more action to come I’m sure. Stay Tuned!
Enjoy the Calcio!
Lisi
*Lots of content this week with the season starting so be sure to read our Milan season preview and roster rundown as well!
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. Enjoy