Juventus threw down one of the strongest claims yet to
posting a strong title defence when thrashing Roma 4-1 in Turin last year and Napoli
can keep pace with them in posting a victory at Sampdoria. Walter Mazzari’s side
just missed out on the Champions League last year but they won the Coppa Italia
and suffered only from devoting so much effort to a strenuous Champions League group
stage which saw them take on Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
With just the Europa League this time round there’s nothing
to stop Mazzari’s side and a super impressive start has seen them take 13
points from their opening 5 matches, with the most impressive performance being
their 3-0 thrashing of Lazio which saw Edinson Cavani (pictured) score a hat trick and
miss a penalty as well in a comfortable success that has marked them down as
serious title contenders. Sampdoria have impressed so far this season and will
be no pushovers either, but their fixture list has been a little easier (Napoli
have already played Fiorentina and Lazio, albeit at home) and this is the
toughest test they’ve had so far by a long way.
Elsehwere on the coupon, Inter – marked down by this page as
the closest challengers to Juventus this season – have been good to their word
as they lie in fourth place, with the caveat that they’re on the road. A start
of 5 straight away wins without conceding a goal is an incredibly impressive
record, but their home form has been absolutely dire. Inter have played five
home games so far in all competitions, resulting in defeats by Hajduk Split,
Roma, and Siena, and draws against Rubin Kazan and FC Vaslui. Fiorentina, who
were so impressive against Juventus on Tuesday and really should have beaten
the defending Champions, are easily the toughest visitors to the San Siro so
far (they lie unbeaten despite having played 3 of last season’s top 5) and yet
can be backed at 12/5 for three points tonight, which is a no brainer at the
prices.
Over in Spain, Atletico Madrid make appeal to continue their
fantastic start to the season against Espanyol, who haven’t kept a clean sheet
so far this season and are coming into this game with just a point from their
opening 5 games, while Athletico have won their last 6. Espanyol are yet to keep
a clean sheet this season and have conceded three goals on two occasions already
while the Diego Simone’s men have scored at least three goals in five of their last
six games, which makes the odds against offered on over 2.5 goals very
appealing, so backing the two options makes a whole lot of appeal, with a
bigger stake on over 2.5 to make up for the fact that the hosts are unbeaten in their last four
home matches against Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid’s tie has no interest for us,
as Jose’s men can’t be trusted until they get on a real run of domestic form.
Advice – Serie A
2 pts Napoli (6/5 Ladbrokes)
1 pt Fiorentina (12/5 Ladbrokes)
Advice – La Liga
2 pt Over 2.5 goals in Espanyol v Atletico Madrid (4/5
general)
1 pt Atleico Madrid to win and over 2.5 goals in the game
(12/5 Bwin)
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