After a disappointing weekend, Enzo is back undeterred with three selections for Serie A matchday 23 and he fancies Ademola Lookman to get on the scoresheet this Sunday
Atalanta v Lecce
Sun 19th Feb 11:30
Since arriving from RB Leipzig in the summer, Ademola Lookman has been a revelation for Atalanta. The Nigerian has scored 12 goals in 22 league appearances and is tied second with Lautaro Martinez in the Capocanniere standings. By his standards, Lookman is going through a bit of a dry spell, he has not scored for two games but that is due to misfortune rather than a downturn in form. He was sacrificed early in the defeat to Sassuolo because of Maelhe’s sending off and rattled the upright at the Olimpico at the weekend. A home tie against a mediocre Lecce side is the perfect opportunity for him to get back on track so Lookman Anytime Scorer @ 15/8 is my first Italian football selection this week.
Fiorentina v Empoli
Sun 19th Feb 14:00
Not much to say about this except that Fiorentina and Empoli have struggled in front of goal all season. Fiorentina have an average of 1.05 goals per game while Empoli are slightly worse with 0.95. Both sides have been fairly solid defensively though which has made up for their lack of firepower. 55% of Fiorentina’s matches at the Franchi have seen over 2.5 match goals scored but just 27% of Empoli’s away games have topped the mark. Despite a slight uptick in scoring form recently I still feel Under 2.5 goals @ Evs is a price worth taking.
Spezia v Juventus
Sun 19th Feb 17:00
Serie A’s third worst attack will face off against the league’s second best defence when Spezia meet Juventus on Sunday afternoon. Spezia have scored 19 goals in 22 games, 9 of which have come courtesy of M’Bala Nzola. The Angolan frontman has been sidelined since mid- January with a calf injury and his replacement,Roma reject Eldor Shomurodov, has yet to register a strike this season. In total, Spezia have failed to find the net on 10 occasions during this campaign.
Ignoring the five that Napoli put past them, Juventus have been rock solid at the back with just 17 goals conceded so far. In fact, all of the Bianconeri’s 13 victories have come without their opponents scoring. I see no reason why this trend shouldn’t continue here so Juventus win to nil @ 13/8 is my final Serie A pick for the weekend.
Smart Bets
Atalanta v Lecce: Ademola Lookman Anytime Scorer @ 15/8
Fiorentina v Empoli: Under 2.5 goals @ Evs
Spezia v Juventus: Juventus win to nil @ 13/8
