Serie A - round 15 results

Catania         2-0       Palermo     

Cesena          0-1       Inter    

Genoa           2-1       Bologna      

Juventus       2-0       Novara       

Lazio            2-2       Udinese      

Napoli           1-3       Roma         

Parma           3-3       Lecce                   

AC Milan        2-0       Siena

Chievo           2-0       Cagliari       

Fiorentina      2-2       Atalanta      

Cesena v Inter Match Prevew and Betting Tips

Sunday 18th December 2011, 2pm GMT

At the beginning of the season, some observers felt that Cesena had made one of the best signings of the Summer period in capturing Adrian Mutu from Fiorentina for free. It hasn’t worked out too smoothly so far however – though Mutu has score 4 goals, that is more than half of his team’s total tally and they currently sit third from bottom in the table. Mutu, incidentally, will be shooting for his 100th Serie A goal tomorrow.

Nagatomo: looking to make it 3 in 3 tomorrow

Inter were one of the first clubs to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages despite their poor start to the domestic season. Claudio Raneiri – their fourth manager since the departure of Jose Mourinho - seems to have steadied the ship somewhat however, and they have moved up to seventh place having won their last three games. Yuto Nagatomo has scored in Inter’s last two games, and he will be hoping to continue the trend against his old club.

Striker Diego Forlan came off the bench on Tuesday at Genoa, and his return from injury is good news for Inter fans as Giampaolo Pazzini isn’t finding the net as easily as he did last season, and Diego Milito is also struggling somewhat. 23-year-old Ricardo Alvarez is an exciting addition to the Inter attack, and overall I think they will have enough to continue their winning run at Cesena.

Prediction – Inter to win – 4pts

Match odds:            Cesena          10/3

                             Draw             9/4    

                             Inter             5/6

Serie A - round 14 results

Roma            1-1       Juventus     

Atalanta         1-1       Catania      

Bologna         2-2       AC Milan     

Cagliari          0-0       Parma        

Novara          1-1       Napoli        

Udinese         2-1       Chievo       

Inter             2-0       Fiorentina   

Lecce            2-3       Lazio

Palermo         0-1       Cesena

Siena            0-2       Genoa         

Roma v Juventus Match Preview and Betting Tips

Monday 12th December 2011, 7.45pm GMT (live on ESPN)

Roma’s struggles so far this season have been well documented. They were at a disadvantage ahead of last week’s game against Fiorentina thanks to the stupidity of striker Pablo Osvaldo, and the Giallorossi have shot themselves in the foot once again ahead of this one.

Midfielder Fernando Gago, defender Juan and striker Bojan Kirkic, who were all sent off at Fiorentina, will be unavailable for this game due to suspension. Pablo Osvaldo returns up front, but defenders Simon Kjaer and Nicolas Burdisso are also expected to miss out through injury. Juventus have no suspension worries, and Andrea Pirlo – who missed Juve’s last game against Cesena – will return to strengthen the visitors’ midfield. Former Roma striker Marco Vucinic is likely to miss this clash with his old club however, as he suffered a thigh injury in the Cesena game.

Time may be running out for Roma coach Luis Enrique. A sizeable section of the travelling Roma support last Sunday demanded that Enrique be removed from his duties after the game. In a press conference after the same match, the coach himself indicated that he will walk away if he feels that he has lost the support of his players. The Spaniard’s puzzling decision not to field fit-again captain Francesco Totti (despite the absence of Osvaldo) certainly won’t have won him any friends in the Curva Sud. There are also rumours that out-of-work Carlo Ancelotti has held talks with the club, in a week when midfielder Danielle De Rossi has said it would be “a miracle” if Roma finished in the top three and qualified for next season’s Champions League.

Conte: attempting to bring the glory days back at Juventus

Antonio Conte’s fortunes so far in his first season as Juventus coach have been in contrast to those of Enrique at Roma. Conte’s men top the table on 29 points, and they have yet to be beaten after 13 games. New signings Pirlo, Stefan Lichtsteiner and Arturo Vidal have added much-needed steel to the Bianconeri, while Claudio Marchisio and Alessandro Matri have been finding the back of the net frequently.

Juventus were deserving winners over Lazio at this same stadium two weeks ago, and this weakened Roma side won’t provide as strong a test for the Old Lady. Considering the fragile nature of Enrique’s position, and the players he will be missing, I expect the visitors’ aggressive attacking style to overpower Roma on Monday evening.

Prediction – Juventus to win – 6pts

Match odds:   Roma             11/4

                    Draw              23/10

                    Juventus         19/20

Lecce v Lazio Match Preview and Betting Tips

Saturday 10th December 2011, 5pm GMT

There were murmurs of doubt about the ability of coach Edy Reja to exceed last season’s achievements when Lazio went on a recent winless three-game run. Lazio silenced the doubters somewhat on Monday evening however when they clinically dispatched with an admittedly poor Novara side.

Reja’s first full season at Lazio saw the Romans qualify for Europa League football, which was a huge improvement from the previous season - most of which was spent flirting with relegation. There was always going to be pressure on Reja to improve on a fifth-place finish however from the moment when Lazio director Claudio Lotito loosened the purse strings during the summer, allowing his coach to bring in Miroslav Klose, Djibril Cisse, Federico Marchetti and Senad Lulic among others.

"L" is the message as Rocchi celebrates a goal against Novara

It was a Lazio veteran who drove his team to a much-needed win on Monday – club captain Tomasso Rocchi, who is closing in on 300 Serie A appearances, scored twice during the 3-0 win. Rocchi missed most of last season through injury, but he has impressed upon his return – so much so that he has earned a starting place and consigned frustrated Frenchman Cisse to the bench.

There’s not much to say about Lecce. Having collected just 8 points from 13 games, they are rooted to the bottom of the table and are guaranteed a place in the relegation battle for the rest of the season. As this game will be coach Serse Cosmi's first at Lecce (he was given the job of replacing the sacked Eusebio Di Francesco), his players may be more fired up than they have been in recent games. Lazio really need to be collecting maximum points from games like this however, and considering their strong form on the road they should do so with ease.

Prediction – Lazio to win – 4pts

Match odds:   Lecce              16/5

                    Draw               23/10

                    Lazio               5/6

Serie A - round 13 results

Lazio            3-0       Novara       

Bologna        1-0       Siena

Catania         0-1       Cagliari

Chievo          0-0       Atalanta

Fiorentina      3-0       Roma         

Juventus       2-0       Cesena       

Parma           0-0       Palermo     

Inter             0-1       Udinese      

Napoli           4-2       Lecce                   

Genoa           0-2       AC Milan      

Fiorentina v Roma Match Preview and Betting Tips

Sunday 4th December 2011, 2pm GMT

Roma striker Pablo Osvaldo will miss this visit to his old employers, having been suspended by his new employers - apparently for punching team-mate Eric Lamela in the face after Roma’s 2-0 defeat at Udinese last Friday. The absence of Osvaldo – who was also fined the maximum possible amount by his club (€50,000) – will obviously decrease the attacking threat posed by the Giallorossi on Sunday.

Though Fiorentina have picked up just two points on the road so far this season, they are a much sterner prospect at home, and coach Delio Rossi will be hoping to make home advantage pay as he looks for his first win. He will have to plan without Cesare Natali, who was sent off during the Viola’s defeat at Palermo last week, but the dangerous Stefan Jovetic is likely to return from injury.

Jovetic: back for the Viola?

Roma’s worries up front will be eased slightly by Francesco Totti, if he returns to the line-up as is expected. Totti will have fond memories of the Stadio Artemio Franchi, as he scored a brace here against Fiorentina last season. Midfielder Danielle De Rossi may have to deputise at centre-half on Sunday, following the hamstring injury suffered by Simon Kjaer at Udinese.

The injuries and suspensions currently faced by Roma pose fresh problems for coach Luis Enqique, who is already under pressure after the erratic beginning to his career in Italy. His side were picked apart on the counter-attack when they tried to assert themselves at Udinese last week, and I think they will struggle again on Sunday. This is a great opportunity for Delio Rossi to claim his first win as Fiorentina coach.

Prediction – Fiorentina to win – 3pts 

Match odds:   Fiorentina             7/5

                    Draw                  21/10

                    Roma                 19/10

Genoa v AC Milan Match Preview and Betting Tips

Friday 2nd December 2011, 7.45pm GMT (live on Setanta IRL)

Milan travel to Genoa this evening in the knowledge that goalkeeper Christian Abbiati will be sidelined for two more weeks. The champions’ first-choice ‘keeper suffered a shoulder injury during Milan’s recent Champions League clash with Barcelona, and his replacement Marco Amelia managed to keep a clean sheet last week when Milan thrashed Chievo 4-0.

Zlatan: reached his century last weekend

While Milan enter this game on the back of a 4-0 win (during which Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 100th and 101st goals in Serie A), Genoa suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at Cesena last time out. Although they are unbeaten at home so far this campaign, and they will be eager to return to winning ways, the Rossoblu haven’t yet hosted visitors boasting the quality of this Milan side.

Veteran defender Alessandro Nesta has also joined the injury list at Milan, and is expected to return early in the new year. Gennaro Gattuso and Mathieu Flamini are also expected to return in the new year, while Antonio Cassano is likely to miss the rest of the season – which is why Milan have been heavily linked with rebel Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez of late.

Genoa have failed to score in two of their last three games, and their top scorer Rodrigo Palacio is suspended for this game. Absent through injury are Luca Antonelli, Ze Eduardo and Cesare Bovo. Milan have not conceded in their last three league games, and they have scored more than any other Serie A team. The champions return to the top of the table should they win this evening, and I think they will.

Prediction – AC Milan to win – 5pts 

Match odds:   Genoa           3/1

                    Draw             9/4

                    AC Milan       10/11