WHERE’S the value in Italy this weekend? We called on Mark O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) to pick us some winners from Serie A.
Atalanta v Roma | Saturday 17.00 | BT Sport 2
Roma were rocked by that devastating hammering handed out to them in the Eternal City by Bayern Munich last month. It coincided with a tough run of fixtures – away trips to Juventus, Sampdoria and Napoli yielded just one point.
But don’t let that put you off backing the capital club on Saturday night at a juicy 5/6 with Bet365. Those three games all came against top-four teams in Serie A but they should prove too strong for a toothless Atalanta side.
The Goddess have recorded just one win in Bergamo where they’re normally so strong. Two of their five defeats came against in front of their home fans whilst Stefano Colantuono’s side have failed to score in eight of their 11 Serie a outings.
Dating back to 12 September and you’ll see Atalanta have netted just twice in nine games, failed to record a shot-on-target against Sassuolo in their last match and have only fired 23 shots-on-target in total across all of their league matches in 2014/15. It's that pathetic goalscoring records should be their undoing against a rampant Roma side.
Under Rudi Garcia’s tutelage the Giallorossi have won 13/24 (54%) of their road games and scored at least twice in 11 of those matches. Looking at last season’s results, the Wolves were winners in seven of their 10 against bottom-half clubs. I'm happy to side with Roma at 5/6 with Bet365.
Udinese v Chievo | Sunday 14.00
Udinese are a favourite team of mine in Serie A. Why? Well the Little Zebras are always underrated when playing at their Stadio Friuli base and always worth a bet when playing some of Serie A’s lesser lights.
That’s the case again this weekend with Chievo making the short journey to north-eastern Italy. Taking a sample from the start of last season and Udinese have won 13/25 (52%) games on their home turf, only losing seven.
What’s more, they’ve bagged nine wins in their last 14 at the Friuli with only Juventus and in-form Genoa leaving them pointless in that spell. BetVictor are letting us back Udinese at 20/21 for Sunday’s game and I’m all over it.
Eugenio Corini was dismissed as Chievo boss in mid-October and Rolando Maran has managed to collect four points from two home fixtures against Sassuolo and fellow strugglers Cesena since taking over the role.
But the Flying Donkeys road form has long been an issue. Since the start of last season, Chievo have suffered losses in 15/24 (63%) of their away games in the league.
Even with the renewed hope amongst the squad under Maran, I still can’t ignore the 20/21 on a home win. After all, the Little Zebras have won four on the spin at home to Chievo, averaging 2.5 goals-per-game in the process whilst legendary striker Toto Di Natalie is just one goal off 200 career Serie A strikes!
Parma v Empoli | Sunday 14.00
Italian legend Roberto Donadoni’s time at Parma could be up soon. Despite an outstanding season with the Crusaders last year, the 1997 champions have struggled this term losing nine of their 11 matches to prop up the table.
Next is a visit from Empoli with the Blues sitting just outside the relegation zone and four points better off than their hosts. Rather than trust either side to pick up a result, a bet on Both Teams To Score looks much more viable.
Between them, the two teams have seen the Both Teams To Score bet win in 12/22 matches this campaign with only 2/22 clean sheets between them. With those records, it’s no surprise these two teams possess the worst defensive records in the league.
With such porous back lines on show, the 5/6 from Ladbrokes on another Both Teams To Score winner looks right up our street.
Best Bets
Atalanta v Roma – Roma to win (5/6 Bet365)
Udinese v Chievo – Udinese to win (20/21 BetVictor)
Parma v Empoli – Both teams to score (5/6 Ladbrokes)
