MARCO Di Cosmo (@scioltz) lives for Italian football. Here the Rome resident shares his two best bets for Saturday’s games.
Sassuolo v Fiorentina | Saturday 17:00 | ESPN
I don’t trust Fiorentina against smaller sides in Serie A and I think the Viola are underpriced as usual on Saturday away to Sassuolo. Let’s not forget they were held to a draw against Genoa two weeks ago.
I reckon they’ll find things very tough in Reggio Emilia, where the hosts have lost just one league game this season and are unbeaten in seven. On home turf Sassuolo drawn with Juventus and pulled off a stunning 3-1 victory against Inter.
Overall Eusebio Di Francesco’s side have lost just two games from their last 16 in Serie A. It’s remarkable form for a side who should be fighting to avoid relegation.
Their strikers Simone Zaza, Nicola Sansone and Domenico Berardi will be back today after missing their match against Sampdoria last weekend and I’m expecting them to cause Fiorentina problems. The Viola needed an injury time winner to see off lowly Atalanta last week. I’ll be backing Sassuolo to avoid defeat on Saturday.
Palermo v Napoli | Saturday 19:45 | BT Sport 2
My last bet on Napoli proved to be a banker as Udinese easily found the net at the San Paolo. I usually don’t like getting involved in games involving Rafa Benitez’s side as I think they can veer from the sublime to the ridiculous. But what the hell, I’ll have a crack here. Their defence is usually pretty vulnerable and I’ll side with their opponents to score here.
Palermo excel in their own stadium and have lost just one home league game this season. That was back in September against Lazio. I think they can score on Saturday night.
A second bet I’ll have is on the Anytime Goalscorer market. Two of the best Argentinian strikers meet in this game at La Favorita, and I rate Palermo’s kid Paulo Dybala very highly.
This lad has the talent to be as good as his countryman Gonzalo Higuain and he should be sold in the summer. He reminds me of Sergio Aguero and he’s look like being sold in the summer. He should have no difficulties against the fragile Napoli duo Raul Albiol and Khalidou Koulibaly.
TOPICS European Football FootballBest Bets
Sassuolo v Fiorentina – Sassuolo +1 (2/3 Bet365)
Palermo v Napoli – Palermo to score first between 0-75 mins (4/7 William Hill)
Palermo v Napoli – Paulo Dybala to score anytime (23/10 Stan James)
