Bet on the Serie A @ Bunga Bet
Napoli vs Empoli
Stadio San Paolo, Napoli
Friday, 02-11-2018 @10:30pm
The pressure is on Napoli after falling six points behind Juventus and they host an Empoli side without a win since the opening weekend. Carlo Ancelotti’s side left it late in last weekend’s big Derby Del Sole home match with Roma to earn a draw.
Ancelotti will more than likely use this game to rotate in some of his squad players while thinking ahead to Tuesday night’s big Champions League tie at home with PSG. Lorenzo Insigne, who was carrying a knock in that match last weekend, could be rested in this one alongside captain Marek Hamsik. Algerian full-back Faouzi Ghoulam has returned to the squad after his year-long injury woes, but is unlikely to be risked in this one and will instead be eased back into the side after the next international break. He is joined on the comeback trail by goalkeeper Alex Meret, Sebastiano Luperto and Adam Ounas. Simone Verdi is out for a few more weeks, while Romanian center-back Vlad Chiriches and German Amin Younes are long-term injury absentees.
Empoli, on the other hand, threw away a 1-0 lead to concede to second half goals and eventually lose 2-1 at home to Juventus. The Tuscans are winless in their last nine Serie A games going back to an opening day win at home to Cagliari and have only picked up points in draws with Frosinone, Milan and Chievo since. Coach Aurelio Andreazzoli will be without the services of defender Lorenzo Polvani, who is out for the season, and forwards Levan Mchedlidze and Alejandro Rodriguez. Midfielder Lorenzo Lollo faces a late fitness test.
Napoli have won their last three league meetings both home and away against their visitors, scoring 10 times. Empoli have won just once in their last seven games at the San Paolo, a 3-1 victory back in February 2008.
Inter Milan vs Genoa
Stadio Giuseppe Meaza, Milan
Saturday, 03-11-2018 @05:00pm
Inter demolished Lazio to catch Napoli in second place and welcome a Genoa side who lost in this stadium in stoppages midweek. Following their 3-0 win away to Lazio, the Nerazzurri set out their stall as Scudetto contenders. This Saturday, they’ll play a tough Genoa side who are in a bad place after Wednesday, having lost their rescheduled Week 1 fixture with Milan only to a last-gasp Alessio Romagnoli volley.
Inter are in the midst of a six-game winning streak since their last loss to Parma back in September. Also, Mauro Icardi continued his hot streak by bagging two goals at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, putting the Argentine striker at six goals in Serie A (five of which have come in his last three matches). Radja Nainggolan remains the only notable injury in Luciano Spalletti’s side, however, there is hope within the Inter camp that the Ninja could be available for the match against Genoa.
Unlike Inter, Genoa have hit a bit of a stumbling block as of late. They have not won a game in a month, and Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek is without a goal in his last three after scoring in every match up until the Juventus Stadium. However, their draw at Juve shows that the Rossoblu can cause problems for the league’s top sides. Also, with Piatek leading the charge, we could very well see an upset at San Siro this Saturday.
Genoa have lost their last five visits to Inter, scoring one goal and conceding nine.
Fiorentina vs Roma
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence
Saturday, 03-11-2018 @08:00pm
Fiorentina and Roma are locked together on 15 points after recording four wins, four draws and three defeats each from their 10 Serie A fixtures. The Viola have suffered from a slump in form in recent weeks, collecting just one win from their last five. Stefano Pioli’s team will be pleased to see the back of October and will be hoping that a new month will bring about a different set of results. They are undefeated at home so far this season. Only a recent draw against Cagliari prevented them from making it six consecutive wins at the Artemio Franchi, where they have conceded just twice and kept four clean sheets. Coach Pioli has no fresh injury concerns for this match, but has chosen to tinker with his attacking options in recent weeks in search of a winning formula. Giovanni Simeone scored in both games against Roma last season and that could see his boss reinstate him to the starting XI for this week’s game after he was surprisingly dropped due to poor form.
Recent speculation sparked rumours that Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco has been fighting for his job. Feeling the pressure due to an underwhelming start to the Serie A campaign, Roma did pick up a credible draw at Napoli last week and were within minutes of securing a victory. The capital outfit have a number of injury concerns ahead of their trip to Florence. Diego Perotti, Justin Kluivert, Rick Karsdrop and Javier Pastore are all likely to be missing again, while Kostas Manolas and influential captain Daniele De Rossi picked up injuries during last Sunday’s game in Naples. As results of those latest injuries, Di Francesco will be forced to make changes to his starting XI, with Federico Fazio and Bryan Cristante ready to deputise for Manolas and De Rossi.
Roma have a strong record on the road in Serie A, losing just three of their last 31 matches away from the Eternal City, including a 4-2 success in Tuscany. However, Fiorentina will be in no mood to surrender their undefeated home record. Only one of the last 14 Serie A games between Fiorentina and Roma ended in a draw (1-1 in January 2015). In that time, the Viola have won on four occasions with the Giallorossi winning nine.
Juventus vs Cagliari
Allianz Satdium, Torino
Saturday, 03-13-2018 @10:45pm
Juventus host Cagliari in Saturday’s late game as they aim to create a bigger lead at the top of the Serie A table. La Vecchia Signora have had an unsurprisingly fantastic start to the season, as the only two points they dropped were against Genoa a fortnight ago. Cristiano Ronaldo has arguably been one of the league’s most influential players with seven goals and four assists so far in a Bianconeri shirt. He along with Milan’s Suso have been involved in 11 goals this season each, as Ronaldo is on the search for another record-breaking year. Juve could potentially rest some players in this match, as they have a Champions League clash against Manchester United at the Allianz Juventus Stadium next Wednesday. Regardless, they almost have a full-strength squad to choose from, with Emre Can their only absentee.
Meanwhile, Cagliari have surprised many this season so far. They have only lost once in their last five games – a 2-0 defeat away to Inter – while last Sunday they defeated Chievo 2-1 thanks to goals from Leonardo Pavoletti and Lucas Castro. The former has been in ripping form for the Sardinians, with five goals and one assist in his eight starts. Rolando Maran, as opposed to Allegri, has a growing injury list. Ragnar Klavan, Diego Farias, Charalambos Lykogiannis and Marko Pajac are out for the visitors.
It will be interesting to see Max Allegri’s approach to the match, as so far the Rossoblu have held Fiorentina and Milan to draws.
Since a 2-0 home win in November 2009, Cagliari have managed only three 1-1 draws in 15 Serie A meetings with Juventus. The last victory in Turin was 3-2 in January 2009, but curiously all three stalemates were away fixtures.
Lazio vs SPAL
Stadio Olympico, Rome
Sunday, 04-11-2018 @02:30pm
Lazio host SPAL this weekend, with both sides looking to avenge disappointing defeats and resume their earlier impressive form. The Aquile were outplayed, out muscled and out thought by Inter on Monday evening in the 3-0 home defeat and will be looking to return to winning ways here against a struggling SPAL side.
The visitors travel to the Capital in the early kick-off on Sunday on the back of a home defeat to the previously winless Frosinone. The manner of the loss was almost as bad as the result, in which SPAL equalled their heaviest defeat of the season, 3-0, in front of their own fans. SPAL had made a strong start to the new campaign with four wins from their opening six games, if you include the Coppa Italia victory against Spezia. However, they have now lost four of their last five and have slipped down to 15th in the league. They are the joint lowest scorers in Serie A, with just eight goals in their opening 10 games, outlining their main weakness. Having said that, their defensive record is not too bad, with only 13 goals leaked, which is the same amount as Roma and just one more than Lazio. They were victorious in their last away match, which did happen to be in the same stadium as they will be in this weekend, when they beat Roma 2-0. They will still be confident, despite recent form, that they can gain a positive result.
Lazio will feel that this game is a real chance to get back to winning ways after the loss to Inter and they will be hoping for a similar result to the one they enjoyed in the away match to SPAL last season, in which Ciro Immobile scored four in a 5-2 win.
Both sides play with a back three, but you can expect SPAL to line-up with a near enough back five for the majority of the game. The midfield will be quite congested, and it will be up to Lazio to use their quality in the final third to break this SPAL side down. Having said that, the likes of Joaquin Correa and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic should be able to create the plays in which to provide Immobile with chances, which with his form, we can expect him to take.
We could well see a family reunion, because Sergej Milinkovic-Savic can line up against his younger brother Vanja. The SPAL goalkeeper returns from suspension, having been sent off in the win over Roma at the Olimpico.
SPAL have only ever won one Serie A trip to Lazio, along with six draws and seven defeats. That was a 2-1 result in March 1957.
Chievo vs Sassoulo
Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, Verona
Sunday, 04-11-2018 @05:00pm
Many expected this to be a relegation tussle, but 10 rounds in and Sassuolo are comfortable with Chievo rock bottom. Chievo’s season didn’t get off to the best of starts after a three-point deduction before they’d kicked a ball. However, 10 games in and they haven’t even made up their lost ground. The task on Gian Piero Ventura’s hands is nothing short of huge. His team are already 10 points off safety, haven’t won a game, scored the joint least goals and conceded the most in Serie A.
The mood around Sassuolo couldn’t be more different. Roberto De Zerbi’s team currently reside in eighth place in Serie A, a mere three points off the Champions League spots. As each matchday passes, it’s finally beginning to feel like this team is fulfilling their potential. Some cause for pessimism is that Sassuolo’s away form ranks 13th in the league, with five points from five games. Despite being the away side, you can expect the Neroverdi to dominate proceedings, as De Zerbi’s men enjoy the lion’s share as possession, whereas Chievo rank last for possession in Serie A. It’s tough to imagine the worst defence in Italy’s top flight being able to hold off Domenico Berardi, Kevin Prince-Boateng and Federico Di Francesco for 90 minutes, but at this point Chievo need some miracles.
In terms of team news, Riccardo Meggiorini is an injury doubt for Chievo, as are Valter Birsa and Nigerian midfielder Joel Obi, but they are expected to push through and start. Serbian defender Nenad Tomovic should miss the game entirely through injury.
It’s a similar story for Sassuolo, as midfielders Manuel Locatelli and Alfred Duncan are expected to fail late fitness tests to start, but may yet still make the bench.
Sassuolo haven’t beaten Chievo since a 1-0 home result in April 2015, managing just four draws and two defeats.
Parma vs Frosinone
Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma
Sunday, 04-11-2018 @05:00pm
Parma were hammered away to Atalanta last weekend, but can they pick things up when they meet Frosinone on Sunday? These two sides were promoted from Serie B last season, but they’re having very different experiences in the top flight. The hosts are hoping to bounce back from Saturday’s 3-0 loss to la Dea, while the visitors are coming off a first win of the campaign.
Parma are in 13th place in the table, and they’ve managed to open up a seven-point lead over the bottom three. Their brilliant rise up the ranks back to the top flight has been astonishing, and they already look at home back at the highest level of Italian football. They’re the only newly promoted side who are not in the bottom three after the first 10 games of the season. They’ve established themselves in the middle of the pack in Serie A, as they’re just three points shy of the top six.
Parma are bucking a trend in Serie A, as recent years have seen promoted sides spend the campaign at the bottom of the table. Last term Benevento were stuck in last place all season, while Hellas Verona and SPAL were in and around the bottom three all the way through. Parma are riding high, but Frosinone are second from bottom in the table, having lost seven of their first eight matches since gaining promotion. However, they have started to turn things around, and their aim this weekend will be to keep up their recent strong form.
Frosinone drew 3-3 against fellow promoted side Empoli, while they followed that up with a crushing 3-0 victory over SPAL – the only one of last season’s promoted sides to beat the drop. With six goals in two games, their scoring form has improved. That came after they scored just three times in their opening eight. With more of a punch up front, the visitors are starting to get results.
Parma won the reverse fixture 2-0 last season.
Sampdoria vs Torino
Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Sunday, 04-11-2018 @05:00pm
Both Sampdoria and Torino will be under pressure after poor recent results as the battle for European football hots up. Samp have slid down the rankings after failing to win their last two games and given how tight things are in the table, they could tumble further down if they fail to win against Torino. The Granata are unbeaten in their last five games coming into this match but have just picked up just two points from their last two matches. The Blucerchiati, meanwhile, have picked up just one point.
Sampdoria come into this game having lost 3-2 to Milan on the road. Whilst their away form has not been as dodgy so far as it was last season, it has not been the strongest, either. Meanwhile, they were frustrated to draw 0-0 at home with Sassuolo, dropping two valuable points, and this could really come back to haunt them as they chase a European football berth. Last campaign, Marco Giampaolo’s side started off excellently and looked like definite contenders for the Europa League, but tailed off horribly near the end and barely ended up finishing in the top half of the table.
Meanwhile, visiting side Torino earned a 1-1 draw with Fiorentina in their last tie, but will have to make do without Coach Walter Mazzarri, who is due to serve a touchline ban after being sent to the stands. Like Sampdoria, Torino are also eager to qualify for European football after missing out last term and are part of that crop of sides who are all jostling to dislodge the likes of Fiorentina who presently occupy that coveted sixth-placed spot.
However, just like last season, draws are costing the Granata once again, who so far have dropped points against Bologna and struggling Atalanta recently, and were very fortunate not to be embarrassed against relegation candidates Frosinone as they narrowly hung on for a 3-2 victory.
Walter Mazzarri is currently unbeaten in his last eight meetings against old club Sampdoria, winning five and drawing three.
Bologna vs Atalanta
Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Bologna
Sunday, 04-11-2018 @08:00pm
Atalanta are back with a bang after two straight victories and will be out for another three points at stuttering Bologna. After surrendering a 2-1 lead away to Sassuolo to earn a point last week, Bologna will be hoping to make things right when they return to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. Bologna are 17th in the league rung with a nine-point tally, which is three above the drop zone. Filippo Inzaghi’s side have played a pair of two consecutive 2-2 draws with Torino and Sassuolo, so once the goal-scoring problem subsided, they burst their banks at the back too.
Things are looking up for Atalanta after demolition jobs on Chievo (5-1) and Parma (3-0). At last, Gian Piero Gasperini’s men seem to have put the trauma of Europa League elimination behind them and are playing more like the old Dea. It’s probably no coincidence this upturn of form came with the return to full fitness of Josip Ilicic, who spent most of the summer battling a lymph node infection.
Buoyed by their handsome record against Bologna, Gasperini will be reasonably confident of another victory over Inzaghi’s side. Andrea Masiello and Marco Tumminello remain long-term absentees, while the hosts are without Ladislav Krejci, Federico Mattiello and possibly also defender Danilo.
Atalanta have their last five Serie A meetings with Bologna, home and away, with four clean sheets.
Udinese vs AC Milan
Dacia Arena, Udine
Sunday, 04-11-2018 @10:30pm
Milan rescued a last-gasp midweek win over Genoa, but face a decidedly tougher prospect in Udinese, especially with injury concerns piling up. Although they sit fourth in the Serie A table and in the final Champions League spot, there are still rumours that Gennaro Gattuso could be on his way out of the club and replaced by Antonio Conte. The midweek victory at home against Genoa will have bought him some time, even if it took a last-minute freak Alessio Romagnoli goal to take all three points. So, if Milan won in midweek and sit in the Champions League places, what’s the problem? Well, it’s games like this one away at Udinese that could give a good indication as to why Gattuso is under pressure. Draws against Cagliari, Atalanta and Empoli have contributed to the somewhat negative attitude when Milan head into games they should win, and this one will be no different. Udinese, a team that sit just three points above the relegation zone and without a win since September 23, will view this game as a chance to upset one of the bigger sides in the league and finally get a statement victory.
Goals haven’t been hard to come by for the Udine side, only being kept out in three games this season against Napoli, Juventus and Fiorentina, but the problem they have is keeping the goals out at the other end, something that the likes of Suso, Gonzalo Higuain and Patrick Cutrone will feast on.
Despite the two consecutive losses against Inter and Real Betis earlier in October, the two wins against Sampdoria and Genoa got the Rossoneri back on track, but to go one step forward and make it three wins in a row before a tough doubleheader against Juventus and Champions League challengers Lazio would be extremely valuable to their season.
Just as the 4-4-2 system was implemented, Lucas Biglia has been ruled out by injury, joining Mattia Caldara, Giacomo Bonaventura and possibly also Davide Calabria in the stands. It means Timeoue Bakayoko should get another chance in midfield, despite his abject performance against Genoa, in which he gifted a Christian Kouame temporary equaliser. Udinese are missing the likes of Lukasz Teodorczyk, Bram Nuytinck, Emmanuel Badu, Giuseppe Pezzella and Darwin Machis.
Milan have won only one of their last six Serie A trips to Udine, drawing one and losing the other four.
Bet on these games here: Bunga Bet