OUR man in Rome, Marco Di Cosmo (@scioltz) tackles Sunday's Serie A action from his native Italy.
Chievo v Juventus | Saturday 14:00 | BT Sport 2
Juventus travel to Chievo after their disappointing performance against Lyon. I’ve never admired the Bianconeri in their Champions League campaigns, and I won’t go different this year even with the acquisition of Gonzalo Higuain.
Things are really different in domestic league though; where their dominance is something you can feel every single year.
I like Chievo as a well organized team, especially with the limited amount of talented players they have in squad, but this won’t be enough when facing Juventus.
The Bianconeri have won four consecutive trips to Verona, where Chievo are having an inconstant trend this season with W2-D2-L1, being beaten by Milan.
The fact that Paulo Dybala is missing makes me think Juve probably won’t be putting away Chievo comfortbly, so I like to combine their win with Under 3.5 goals, as this bet would have paid out in all Juventus away wins.
Juventus to win and Under 3.5 Goals is 1/1 (BetStars).
Sassuolo v Atalanta | Saturday 14:00
This should be a great match between probably the two best middleweight teams in Serie A.
Atalanta is somehow filling the gap left by Sassuolo this season, combining quality football with regularity on their performances, which are getting them into sixth place in the table. That is pretty much what Sassuolo did last season; their incredible season guaranteed them a place in the Europe League.
We often said that the European campaign is affecting the performances of these sides, and we won’t go different here, backing on the chances of Sassuolo to concede again.
I won’t take a position on either side to win the match because the best option to consider is goals for both teams in an offensive encounter.
Both Teams To Score is 10/11 (William Hill).
Fiorentina v Sampdoria | Sunday 17:00 | BT Sport
Fiorentina are having some really unreliable performances this season. If it is true they have beaten Roma, it is also to note that they failed to beat Crotone on their own ground, and they’re winless at the Artemio Franchi since mid-September.
That makes me think a lot before backing them with confidence, so I’d prefer to focus on goals again.
Statistically, this kind of bet would have short legs, as the Viola have a depressing record of three goals scored and just one conceded in 5 home games this season.
However, last year they were a joy to watch, and especially on home ground they were a scoring machine.
I expect things to change on this match and being closer to their old performances. Sampdoria are a side who often press very high on the pitch not minding to leave open chances to their opponents.
Away from their stadium, Samp have a really bad record of four losses in six matches, but they’ve only failed to score once, and they managed to register a goal against Juventus in Turin.
Best Bets
Chievo v Juventus – Juventus to win and Under 3.5 Goals (1/1 BetStars)
Sassuolo v Atalanta – Both Teams To Score (10/11 William Hill)
Fiorentina v Sampdoria – Both Teams To Score (6/7 188BET)
