Overview and 6 picks from the Serie A round

The Lazio-Inter match takes the lead, but we’re also inspired by the Napoli-Cagliari game. Round preview.

This season’s Serie A season is approaching its halfway point, with the 16th round of the season taking place at the Csizma this weekend. This Friday’s article will take a look at the most interesting matches of the round, with a special focus on the Lazio-Inter clash on Sunday night. Let’s see what’s worth betting on in the days ahead.

Genoa-Juventus

On paper, the fixture list kicks off with a national fixture, as unbeaten Juventus travel to neighbouring industrial city Genoa on Friday night. The newcomers are having a poor week and Gilardino has also lost Retegui, so it’s realistic to pay under 2 odds for the visitors to win.

Although Genoa have started the season well, they have only managed 1 point in their last three games, and that was against the not so steely Monza-Empoli-Frosinone trio. However, Roma have been burned at home and Napoli have dropped points, so it’s not safe for Juventus, who have 22 points from their last eight games.

We’ll go into the battle with the usual Juve tip, namely few goals, but a Turin win. Allegri has almost a full squad to work with, so the difference in quality is pretty clear.

Napoli-Cagliari

So far, Walter Mazzarri’s debut in charge of Napoli has not gone well, as the defending champions have only managed to pick up 3 points from three games, although the loss of the league title has made up for the setbacks. In principle, the Partenopei should be looking for a straightforward win against newcomers Cagliari, but we would caution against a home draw at odds of around 1.35.

Claudio Ranieri’s side are not worth writing off even if they are losing in the 93rd minute. Another unbelievable turnaround against Sassuolo and Pavoletti’s wonder goal sent the Sardinians over the line, but let’s not forget that Cagliari have only three points from their first nine league games.

The islanders have failed to score in only one of their last eight league games, even taking a goal from Juventus, so if Cagliari dare to play bravely again, they could be good for a goal in Naples.

AC Milan-Monza

Although Milan didn’t qualify for the Champions League, the glass is probably half full, as winning in Newcastle is no small feat and qualifying for the Europa League is not a terrible result in a group like this. Sunday lunchtime sees Monza visit the San Siro, a side who look a safe mid-table side, a fact borne out by their unbelievable run of draws – needless to say, another Remi would be an instant signing for Rafa Palladino.

However, the big question could be Milan’s defence, with Theo Hernández playing as a need-centre-back in England, and with Calabria serving his ban and Kjaer, Kalulu and Thiaw injured, Gazzetta are peddling the start of 17-year-old Bartesaghi, which would be an exciting move.

Last year Monza won back-to-back games, this year they only managed a point against Lazio, otherwise all their league defeats have come against top teams (Inter 0-2, Atalanta 0-3, Roma 0-1, Juventus 1-2).

We offer a bold tip here, which has seen Monza go green in 8 of their 15 games, and 4 in a row, as they did in Milan last season.

Lazio-Inter

Two of the three Italian teams that have qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League will now face each other, with Lazio and Inter taking the round’s showdown. The Nerazzurri are neck-and-neck with Juventus, who are incapable of making mistakes, and although Simone Inzaghi’s side are unbeaten in their last two CL games, they have scored seven against Napoli and Udinese.

And against Sociedad, the master could even afford a massive rest, leaving Lautaro Martínez, Bastoni and Barella on the bench among those who are likely to start on Sunday night. German Yann Bisseck could be stuck in defence, with Paavrd, De Vrij and Dumfries still injured, but it’s still pretty clear which team is the favourite.

The two sides usually play tough but high-scoring matches, and this is expected to be no different. We wouldn’t dare to pick a winner, Inter haven’t won in Rome since 2018, but the cards are still worth a look, especially with Fabio Maresca’s assist.