Roma v Napoli Match Preview and Betting Tips

Saturday 28th April 2012, 7.45pm GMT (live on ESPN)

It would be misleading to describe the battle for third place in Serie A this season as fierce. While Milan and Juventus go toe-to-toe for the Scudetto, streets ahead of the rest, Lazio and Udinese seem almost reluctant to finish third. This is good news for Napoli and Inter (and possibly even Roma), who are now also becoming interested in the prospect of Champions League qualification.

Napoli recently suffered three defeats in a row, but they have revived their flagging league campaign with back-to-back wins over relegation candidates Novara and Lecce. Wednesday’s 2-0 win at Lecce was impressive as it ended the hosts’ six-match unbeaten run, but more importantly for Walter Mazzari it brought his side to within a point of Lazio and closer to participation in the Champions League for the second season running.

"El Pocho," seen here scoring against Chelsea, returns to the bench for Napoi tomorrow

Roma’s “experiment” under Luis Enrique was always expected to take time, but even the most patient Roma fans must be tiring of following their team’s woes. They have suffered more defeats than any other team in the top half of the table, and they have huge problems with both their defending and their discipline. Just as Bojan Krkic and Maarten Stekelenburg return from suspension for this game, Danielle De Rossi, Pablo Osvaldo and Eric Lamela miss out due to suspension. Lamela misses three of Roma’s remaining four games for spitting on Stephan Lichtsteiner during Juventus’ recent win over Roma. Classy.

Napoli defender Hugo Camagnaro is unavailable due to injury, but Goran Pandev returns from suspension and Ezequiel Lavezzi is expected to make the bench following his recent thigh injury.

Roma’s home record is far more respectable than their away form, and though they recorded an impressive 3-1 win in Napoli already this season I can’t see them repeating that achievement tomorrow. Expect Napoli to keep up the pressure on Roma’s rivals in a game which should see a few goals.

Prediction – Napoli to win – 5pts

Match odds:            Roma            6/4

                             Draw            11/5   

                             Napoli           7/4

Serie A - round 33 results

AC Milan        1-0       Genoa        

Cesena          0-1       Juventus     

Lecce            0-2       Napoli        

Novara          2-1       Lazio

Palermo         1-2       Parma        

Roma            1-2       Fiorentina   

Siena            1-1       Bologna      

Udinese         1-3       Inter            

Atalanta        1-0       Chievo       

Cagliari          3-0       Catania

Novara v Lazio Match Preview and Betting Tips

Wednesday 25th April 2012, 11.30am GMT (live on ESPN)

This game was originally scheduled to take place on Sunday 15th April, but it was postponed along with every other Serie A game from this round due to the tragic death of Piermario Morrosini on Saturday 14th.

I tipped Lazio to win the originally scheduled fixture, and I’m sticking with that prediction. Although midfielder Hernanez seems to have picked up a season-ending injury, Stefano Mauri will return from his one-game suspension to provide support for Tommaso Rocchi up front. Indeed given recent form, Mauri is a far better option than the Brazilian, who had been disappointing this season and whose mind appears to be elsewhere. Key defender Andre Dias is also available once again following his recent injury.

Will Mauri continue his recent run of rich goalscoring form tomorrow?

Lazio may have thrown away two points by conceding a late equaliser against Lecce on Sunday, but with just five games remaining they still have a genuine chance of holding on to third place. If they are serious about this target however they really need to be beating teams like Novara (who effectively have nothing to play for), and I think Edy Reja is too good a coach to allow his team to slip up twice in three days.

You can read my match preview for the originally scheduled fixture HERE.

Prediction – Lazio to win – 6 points

Match odds:            Novara          15/4

                             Draw            23/10 

                             Lazio             3/4

Serie A - round 34 results

Round 33 fixtures were postponed last weekend as mentioned previously, and they will take place tomorrow and Wednesday. In the meantime, here are the results from this weekend.

AC Milan        1-1        Bologna     

Cesena          2-2        Palermo    

Fiorentina      0-0        Inter

Genoa           1-4        Siena        

Juventus        4-0        Roma        

Lazio             1-1        Lecce        

Catania          2-0        Atalanta    

Chievo           0-0        Udinese     

Napoli            2-0        Novara      

Parma            3-0        Cagliari

Catania v Atalanta Match Preview and Betting Tips

Saturday 21st April 2012, 7.45pm GMT


Catania’s first season under coach Vincenzo Montella can already be marked down as a success – having begun the season with the stated aim of Serie A survival, the Sicilians sit in eighth place in the table and are just three points short of their all-time record in the top flight with six games remaining. Catania president Antonio Pulvirenti displayed his satisfaction with Montella's work this week by confirming that the coach will remain in the hot seat next season.


Atalanta will also be satisfied with their achievements this season. The Bergamo side are in tenth place, three points behind Catania. Indeed, had they not started the season with a six-point deficit (punishment for involvement in match –fixing) they would be challenging for Europa League qualification. Coach Stefano Colantuono was rewarded with a new contact in February, which secures his position for the next two campaigns.

Maxi Morales may be the smallest player in Serie A but he's proving a big hit with Atalanta fans

The visitors ended a mediocre run of form last time out by winning away at Napoli, while Catania suffered a rare home defeat to Lecce – an extraordinary result considering the fact that they were winning 1-0 with just two minutes of normal time remaining. The Stadio Angelo Massimino is the proverbial fortress however, and Inter, Lazio and Napoli have all tasted defeat here this season (while Juventus and Milan both had to settle for a draw).


Catania goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo is unavailable due to his sending-off against Lecce, while Atalanta's top scorer German Denis is also suspended. The Nerazzurri do possess enough quality in their ranks to cause problems for the Sicilian hosts, but considering their solid home record I think Catania are worth a small bet tomorrow.


Prediction – Catania to win – 3pts


Match odds:    Catania       23/20
                     Draw           7/4
                     Atalanta       3/1

All of this weekend's Serie A fixtures postponed

All of the Serie A games scheduled for this weekend have been postponed following the sad death of Piermario Morosini who was playing for Livorno in a Serie B game yesterday afternoon. R.I.P.

Novara v Lazio Match Preview and Betting Tips

Sunday 15th  April 2012, 11.30am GMT (live on ESPN)

Throughout the course of the season I have found that picking Lazio to win has been a minefield, because one never knows which Lazio will show up. I picked them to beat Parma a couple of weeks back – which they should have been able to do in second gear – and they were absolutely terrible on the night. I have watched their two games since that defeat however, and I have seen enough to convince me that they’re worth backing to beat Novara at almost evens.

While Novara are resigned to a Serie B campaign next season, Lazio are still in pole position for third place (and the Champions League qualification which comes with it) despite their narrow defeat at league-leaders Juventus on Wednesday night. They gave an excellent display of their counter-attacking ability in their win over Napoli last weekend, and their performance in Turin was tenacious, despite the fact that they were missing first-choice players all over the field. Tomorrow they will have to do without Stefano Mauri and Libor Kozak who are suspended, while Miroslav Klose and Andre Dias are still injured. Mauri will be missed, as he has been superb in recent weeks, although his absence will present out-of-form midfielder Hernanez – who has generally started on the bench of late - with an opportunity to impress Edy Reja.

With rumours linking him to Arsenal and Tottenham, will Hernanez recover his form tomorrow? 

Novara lost 2-0 to Parma last week, and even they must know that the eleven-point gap which separates them from Serie A survival is too big to bridge over the remaining six games of the season. Though Lazio haven’t won away from home since January (not counting the Rome derby, when they were technically the away team), Novara have the conceded more goals than every other Serie A team except for Genoa. They have also recorded only three home wins all season. The Lazio players seem to have finally realised the importance of fighting for every point between now and the end of the season, and I think they will take all three tomorrow.

Prediction – Lazio to win – 6 points

Match odds:            Novara          11/4

                             Draw            23/10

                             Lazio            19/20

Serie A - round 32 results

Chievo          0-1       AC Milan     

Catania         1-2       Lecce         

Fiorentina      0-0       Palermo     

Genoa           1-1       Cesena       

Inter             2-1       Siena

Juventus       2-1       Lazio

Napoli           1-3       Atalanta     

Parma           2-0       Novara       

Roma            3-1       Udinese
Bologna        1-0       Cagliari

Serie A - round 31 results

AC Milan         1-2       Fiorentina   

Atalanta         1-2       Siena

Cagliari          2-2       Inter  

Cesena          0-0       Bologna      

Chievo           3-2       Catania      

Lazio             3-1       Napoli        

Lecce            4-2       Roma         

Novara          1-1       Genoa        

Palermo         0-2       Juventus     

Udinese         3-1       Parma

Cagliari v Inter Match Preview and Betting Tips

Saturday 7th April 2012, 2pm GMT

It will take a miracle for Inter to qualify for next season’s Champions League considering the fact that they are seven points off third place with just eight games to go. Though we are all entitled to dream, the more realistic Inter fans will be looking ahead to next season and trying to forget this one.

New coach Andrea Stramaccioni got off to a winning start last weekend, but it was far less comfortable than it should have been considering the fact that they led Genoa 3-0 at one stage. Tomorrow provides a much tougher task for the Nerazzurri as they travel to face Cagliari. Indeed, only three teams have managed to beat the Sardinians on their home soil this season (Milan, Lazio and Lecce).

Goalkeeper Julio Cesar and central defender Lucio are both suspended for tomorrow’s game, while Maicon, Wesley Sneijder and Ricardo Alvarez are still injured. Diego Milito will provide Inter’s main goal threat as usual – indeed without his contribution, this season would have been even more of a disaster for Inter. Cagliari midfielder Daniele Dessena is out for the rest of the season due to injury, though defender Davide Astori is expected to return for this encounter.

Cagliari's Pinilla netted a fine goal against Atalanta on Sunday, and then proceeded to embarrass himself with these silly arm movements while his team-mates walked away feeling sorry for him

Cagliari have won four of their last five games at home, while Inter have lost four of their last five away games. There are two factors which weaken my conviction about this week’s tip – firstly, the Inter players have a new coach to impress, and secondly, the game will not be played at Cagliari’s home ground (it will be played in Trieste due to renovation work which is being carried out at the Stadio Sant'Elia).

The odds on an Inter win are far too short for my liking however, and I fancy the chances of this resolute Cagliari side managing at least a draw tomorrow.

Tip – Lay Inter  - 5pts

Match Odds:   Cagliari          13/5   

                     Draw            23/10

                     Inter             evens

Serie A - round 30 results

Bologna        1-3       Palermo     

Cagliari          2-0       Atalanta     

Fiorentina      1-2       Chievo       

Inter             5-4       Genoa        

Juventus       3-0       Napoli        

Lecce            0-0       Cesena       

Roma            5-2       Novara       

Siena            1-0       Udinese      

Catania         1-1       AC Milan     

Parma           3-1       Lazio