OUR man in Rome, Marco Di Cosmo (@scioltz) tackles Saturday night's Serie A action from his native Italy.
Torino v Cagliari | Saturday 17:00
Backing goals is proving to be the smartest selection when certain Serie A teams are in action and I think there’s a case again for goals when Torino meets Cagliari at the Olimpico.
We must update what we've been saying in the last few weeks as Cagliari have now delivered 11 consecutive Over 2.5 Goals games since promotion – I would be surprised if they fail to make that 12 when traveling to Turin at odds of 7/12 (Marathon)
The home side have scored 12 goals in five home games, while keeping their clean sheet only once against Empoli, – a side that has registered a total of two goals in their whole Serie A season.
Cagliari are performing very bad away from their stadium. Apart from an incredible win in San Siro against Inter (not so incredible if we look at recent Inter's record) they have lost all their away matches, always conceding at least two goals, for a combined total of 13 in four games.
I might expect that trend to continue, and I'll back Torino to score Over 1.5 Goals (8/15 Coral), and also Torino to win and Over 2.5 Goals (5/4 Paddy Power).
Napoli v Lazio | Saturday 19:45 | BT Sport
I expect another cracking match on Saturday night between Napoli and Lazio as the two teams are among the most entertaining sides in the league.
For Napoli, that is pretty much due to their offensive minded football, which I've been admiring since the Rafa Benitez era and much more under Maurizio Sarri.
On the other hand, Lazio rely most of their football on their attacking talents, especially when they are able to line up Felipe Anderson, Keita Balde and Ciro Immobile.
This should be a cracking goalfest but my only concerns are about Lazio's approach. Coach Simone Inzaghi is said to be tempted by a 3-5-2 line-up that I personally see as much more defensive than their natural style of play.
I honestly have no idea why Lazio should saturate their system, especially when this has proved to be ineffective in the two occasions that this team tried to do that, against Milan and Juventus, resulting in two losses.
This little concern makes me swerve on trying a bigger line for goals, and I'll back the simple Over 2.5 Goals (5/8 Marathon) line, as I think that an early goal in the first-half would open up to an exciting game.
Best Bets
Torino v Cagliari – Torino to score Over 1.5 Goals (8/15 Coral)
Torino v Cagliari – Over 2.5 Goals (7/12 Marathon)
Torino v Cagliari – Torino to win and Over 2.5 Goals (5/4 Paddy Power)
Napoli v Lazio – Over 2.5 Goals (5/8 Marathon)
