MONDAY night’s Serie A showdown features in-form Genoa taking on Palermo. Mark O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) eyes up the best bets.
Genoa v Palermo | Monday 19.45 | BT Sport 1
With Napoli, Sampdoria, Lazio and Udinese all failing to record three points this weekend, Genoa know a win would lift into joint-third and extend their run of unbeaten games to seven.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have recorded four victories in that spell, including a memorable 1-0 success over defending champions Juventus at their Stadio Luigi Ferraris home. Although their record of W2-D1-L2 in front of their home supporters appears modest, the Rossoblu have faced four of the current top-five at the Marassi already.
Palermo bagged a surprise away win at Milan in their last road trip but more often than not they tend to suffer a bout of travel sickness. The Eagles have been beaten in three of their five games on the road since winning promotion back to the top tier, leaking at least two goals in four of those matches.
And Giuseppe Iachini’s team have unhappy head-to-head record when visiting Genoa. They’ve never beaten the Rossoblu in 16 Serie A matches at the Marassi, failing to score in half of those games.
With that in mind, I’m going to have a small play on Genoa -0.25 in the Asian Handicap market at 7/8 with Bet365. Taking this selection will see us receive a full payout if the home team win but only lose half our stake should the match end all square.
Since the start of last season, Genoa have recorded 10/24 (42%) home league wins, which is enough to put me off the 5/4 on offer from BetVictor on backing the hosts outright in the Match Odds.
If you aren’t put off by the relatively short price, it’s also worth pointing out that 18 of those 24 matches produced Under 2.5 Goals as well as Palermo's past four league games. BetVictor are best-price on fewer than three goals with 8/13 chalked up.
Best Bets
Genoa v Palermo – Genoa -0.25 (7/8 Bet365)
