HAVING delivered us a winner in the Coppa Italia on Thursday night, our man in Italy Marco Di Cosmo (@Scioltz) has a bet for Saturday night’s Serie A he was keen to share with us.
Palermo v Roma | Saturday 19.45 | BT Sport 1
Having fought back from a two-goal deficit in the derby to secure a draw last weekend, Roma face a tricky test at Palermo on Saturday night as they bid to get their Serie A title challenge back on track. But the capital club make the journey to Sicily with a number of injury concerns.
Daniele De Rossi, Radja Nainggolan, Kostas Manolas are all unable to travel whilst Gervinho and Seydou Keita are on international duty at the African Cup of Nations. The first three names on that list will be big losses as they provide great protection at the back. However, Roma have a deep squad and can overcome such difficulties.
Mapou Yanga Mbiwa has proved to be a reliable centre-back, at least for medium level in Serie A, and Kevin Strootman has finally recovered from his long-term injury; as proved in the derby, where his entrance completely changed the game, including a beautiful assist for the first goal. We might also see attacking midfielder Leandro Paredes start the game for first time and I'm curious to see how the young and talented Argentinian will perform.
Palermo meanwhile have a talented team with the likely of partnership of Franco Vazquez and Paulo Dybala a threat in attack and scoring goals for fun. On the other hand, their defence remains a big concern with the Sicilians conceding the fourth most goals in the league.
When playing at home, Palermo have leaked more than one goal only once, in a 4-0 defeat against Lazio. But I am going against numbers this time, and I am backing Roma to net at least twice. It’s 23/20 with Coral that the visitors to score Over 1.5 Goals.
Roma can’t afford to drop more points in their title challenge and so they will play on the front foot, determined to bag maximum points. Palermo’s never an easy place to visit and it wouldn’t surprise to see the home side notch. And as Rudi Garcia’s men press, in the hope of winning the fixture, I’m confident they can show their authority and score at least twice.
Best Bets
Palermo v Roma – Roma to score Over 1.5 Goals (23/20 Coral)
