Serie A Betting: Another bad weekend looms for Napoli

Roma v Napoli
Saturday, 14:00

As regular readers of this column will know, I thought that Napoli would struggle last week against Atalanta, and I think that they might be in trouble again this weekend.

They play Roma at the ludicrous time of 2pm on a Saturday afternoon, and suddenly their cushion in third place is in danger of being entirely ripped away.

Roma are 2.12 to win the game, and that seems entirely fair to me. Napoli have just one point from their last five meetings against Roma, and the Giallorossi won 3-1 in Naples earlier this season. To me, Napoli are capable of reaching greater heights than Roma, but Luciano Spalletti's men are a much more consistent and reliable team.

Roma also have the prolific Edin Dzeko on whom to rely, and he will enjoy his afternoon against an error-prone Pepe Reina and a tired-looking Napoli defence.

Both of these teams have crazy schedules at the moment, and both lost in the Coppa Italia in midweek, but Roma look much more capable of coping with it, and are favoured to consign Napoli to a battle for third in the League, rather than first and second.

Recommended Bet
Back Roma to beat Napoli @ 2.12

Sampdoria v Pescara
Saturday, 17:00

After life under Zdenek Zeman started with a significant bang, Pescara reverted to their old form last weekend when losing against Chievo. The goals count was surprisingly low as well, but that's a horse that I'm keen to stay on with regards to Zeman and his style.

I suppose that Chievo were always unlikely bedfellows, but the goal counts in their recent games convinced me that we could have a thriller. I was wrong, but feel confident that Pescara's game against Sampdoria in that Saturday graveyard slot could be significantly different.

I won't talk again about Pescara's potential to be involved in games that are full of goals, but we should take a look at Samp. Marco Giampaolo has done a pretty good job, and is still highly rated enough to be linked with the inevitably vacant job at Fiorentina at the end of the season.

They've struggled lately, though, being held by both Bologna and Palermo, and Pescara aren't without a chance here. Both of those teams shut up shop and caught Samp on the break, while Pescara will play Samp's kind of game, and that will, I'm pretty sure, lead to goals.

The hosts have Luis Muriel and Fabio Quagliarella, and are delightfully orchestrated by the former Pescara man Lucas Torreira. Two of their last three home games have had at least four goals, and I think that this will be another.

Recommended Bet
Back Over 3.5 Goals in Sampdoria v Pescara @ 2.40

Atalanta v Fiorentina
Sunday, 11:30
Live on BT Sport 1

Fiorentina have decided to stick with Paulo Sousa, for the time being at least, but another bad result could shove him closer to the exit, and given that the club will almost certainly make a change in the summer, it might be no bad thing.

La Viola were cruising against a desperately poor Torino side on Monday night, and having thrown away a two-goal lead to lose in the Europa League to Borussia Mönchengladbach, they looked as if they were at least putting that memory behind them.

They blew it, allowing Torino back into the game and causing consternation at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. This is no time to be playing Atalanta.

Gian Piero Gasperini's team are flying again after a Christmas hiccup, and look like they could push Napoli all the way for third place. It's now four consecutive wins, and there's every chance of making that five out of five against a dispirited Fiorentina.

Atalanta won at Napoli last week for this column, and they should do it for us again. Consistently brilliant, still underrated, and unquestionably our bet of the week.

Recommended Bet
Back Atalanta to beat Fiorentina @ 2.00