Juventus v Udinese
Juventus lost out to Inter in the Supercoppa Italiana as Alexis Sanchez netted a 121st minute winner, but their form has certainly been better in recent months. Over 90 minutes, they’ve won six of nine unbeaten games since late November, with one of the other games they were unable to claim victory in coming on the road at Napoli.
Udinese were humiliated hosting Atalanta last time out, losing 6-2, leaving them with a W3-D7-L7 record in all competitions stretching back into September. Two of those victories came over Serie B strugglers Crotone and a Cagliari side currently mired in the relegation zone in the top flight, so they have their work cut out for them here.
Although both teams have scored in six of the last seven head-to-heads, while Udinese have been involved in some high-scoring encounters of late, this clash may fail to truly ignite. Juventus’ uptick in form has been built on a solid defence and eight of their past nine league wins have come by 1-0 or 2-0 scorelines, with the exception their recent 4-3 comeback against Roma.
Goals have been in short supply for the Bianconeri with Cristiano Ronaldo leaving in the summer and now Federico Chiesa’s season-ending injury, with the club the lowest scorers amongst the top eight in the table. Given each of their past five home league games have seen fewer than three goals, victory should be achieved but it doesn’t look like being a thrilling affair.
PREDICTION:
JUVENTUS TO WIN AND OVER 2.5 GOALS
Atalanta v Inter Milan
Inter are being pushed hard by Milan to retain their title this season, but it’s not quite a two-horse race yet and Atalanta could put themselves back in the picture with a victory here. Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have only lost twice in 16 matches across all competitions, and although these came at home to decent outfits Villarreal and Roma, they have also beaten Juventus and Napoli over this spell, as well as taking draws with Lazio and Man Utd.
Atalanta are certainly capable of mixing with the best as they’ve demonstrated in recent seasons, but as ever their thrilling approach results in a lot of high-scoring games. Up against sides in the top eight of the table this season, as well as Villarreal and Man Utd in the Champions League, nine of their 11 matches have featured a minimum of four goals, with the exceptions a 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina and a 1-0 win over a Juventus side that are consistently involved in low-scoring affairs.
That includes a 2-2 draw between these two sides back in September and Inter certainly don’t lack the firepower to get at Atalanta’s backline. The Nerazzurri have netted at least twice in all but one of their past eight league games, winning each of them as they’re gathering some serious momentum, and their confidence will be sky high following their Supercoppa Italiana triumph over Juventus. Although they’ve also been impressive defensively, Atalanta didn’t fail to score in any of those aforementioned 11 games against quality outfits, bagging at least two goals of their own on eight occasions, so this looks set to be another frenetic tussle.
PREDICTION:
OVER 3.5 GOALS
AC Milan v Spezia
Spezia have won their last two on the road at a depleted Napoli and relegation rivals Genoa, sandwiching a loss at home to another bottom-four side in Verona. However, that win over Napoli was the first time they’ve avoided defeat against top-eight sides this season, as they conceded at least twice in all seven defeats and trailed at the break in five of them.
Milan have sustained their title challenge this season and although they’ve dropped points to some top-half teams of late, they’ve been thoroughly consistent when taking on the lower half of the division. They’ve won 10 of 11 unbeaten games this season, while they went W15-D4-L1 facing such sides last term. 18 of those 25 victories saw a minimum two-goal margin at the final whistle, including nine of 11 on home turf as they registered eight clean sheets.
PREDICTION:
AC MILAN -1 HANDICAP
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