Serie A Tips:Crunch Time In The Battles For Europe And Relegation

We are heading into the tricky betting phase of the season where dead rubbers abound so, with that in mind Enzo has selected three bets for this weekends Serie A action

Spezia v AC Milan

Sat 13th May 17:00

Milan were well and truly outclassed by a superior Inter team in the all Italian edition of the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday evening. With qualification for next seasons tournament via the means of winning the trophy now highly unlikely, the Rossoneri cannot afford to take their eye of the ball domestically. Pioli’s side are currently find themselves outside the top four, 2 points behind their city rivals who occupy 4th spot.

Spezia have no such lofty ambitions as European football however, their target of survival is no less important. After Verona’s victory in Lecce, Spezia have slid back into the dropzone, three points behind the Mastini. One glimmer of hope for the Ligurians is that topscorer M’bala Nzola has been declared fit to start from the first minute.

Neither side can afford anything less than a victory here and I expect both to go for it so Over 2.5 goals @ Evs is my first Serie A bet of the weekend.

Monza v Napoli

Sun 14th May 14:00

This is classic end of season fixture with virtually nothing to play for. Monza can still finish inside the top 10 which would be a fantastic achievement for the newly promoted club. Whether that features in their thinking is another matter though. The Brianzoli have enjoyed a wonderful final run-in (W4 D5 L1) and Raffaele Palladino thoroughly deserves all the praise and whatever bonus he gets for transforming the team since his takeover.

It’s very hard to predict what champions Napoli will do in this game. Will having clinched the scudetto see them play with the freedom they had during the former half of the season or will they just show up and go through the motions? Either way, I feel Double Chance Monza/Draw@ 6/5 is worth a shot.

Juventus v Cremonese

Sun 14th May 19:45

One defeat in their last six (W3 D2 L1) has given Cremonese an outside chance of staying in Serie A for a second season. But, La Cremo might have left it a fraction too late to beat the drop as they have a six point gap to close with just four games remaining.

Two more wins will guarantee Juve’e participation in next years Champions League. The Bianconeri have not been in the finest form but they did manage to salvage a point in the Europa League semi’s at home to Sevilla thanks to a last gasp Federico Gatti equaliser.

Given what’s at stake, this will not be an easy victory for Juventus. Cremonese should put up stiff resistance but I feel that, as so often happens when playing Juve, they will ultimately be undone by a single and probably late goal. Juventus to win by 1 goal @ 11/4 is my final Italian football prediction.