Serie A Round 13 Preview: One third down, two thirds to go!
After another international break it is good to get back to domestic action as we are already a third of the way through the Serie A campaign.
We begin in Udine where visitors Roma have won each of their last 10 matches against Udinese in Serie A, scoring 22 goals in that period.
The hosts have lost their last five home league games against the capital side, scoring only one goal – the last time they collected points against Roma in Friuli was back in March 2013 (draw 1-1).
On to league-leaders Juventus – who have scored in all 17 of their top-flight games against SPAL – netting 39 goals in total, and 2.3 on average per match (W12 D5).
The away side have lost all seven of their matches when they have been behind in Serie A 2018-19, while Juventus and PSG are the only two teams in the Top 5 European Leagues to have been leading in all their games.
Inter – who lost to Parma earlier this season – haven’t failed to win in consecutive league games against promoted sides since 2014.
Opponents Frosinone have won only one league match this season (3-0 against SPAL away from home). However, they are unbeaten in their last four games (W1 D3), their longest streak without a defeat in the top-flight.
The six league games between Parma and Sassuolo (Serie A and Serie B combined) have seen 20 goals scored in total, an average of 3.3 per game.
Sassuolo are the only team who haven’t lost any points from leading situations this season, winning all five games in which they’ve lead.
In Bologna, home talisman Federico Santander has been directly involved in a goal in each of his last four league appearances (two goals and two assists) – the last Bologna player to be involved in a goal in five consecutive top-flight outings was Marco Di Vaio in 2008.
Away side Fiorentina have plateaued lately and have drawn their last four Serie A games (all 1-1); the last time they drew five consecutive league matches was back in January 1990.
Empoli have failed to score in six of their eight home games against Atalanta, however they have managed to keep a clean sheet in five of those matches.
After going seven games without a win (D3 L4), Atalanta have gone on to win each of their last four games in Serie A – the last time they won more in succession in the competition was in November 2016 (six consecutive victories).
Napoli have won seven of their 10 homes games against Chievo in the top-flight (D1 L2) – since the 2008/09 season, no side has suffered more league defeats at the San Paolo than Chievo.
The visitors are the only side in the top five European Leagues yet to win a single game in 2018-19 (W0 D3 L9).
To compound their poor start Chievo have 16 points fewer than last season after 12 matchdays (including a three points penalty); the biggest difference among all Serie A sides between 2017-18 and 2018-19.
The pick of the weekend’s action takes us to the capital where Lazio and AC Milan have faced each other on 150 occasions in Serie A, with the visitors winning 64 of those games (28 wins for Lazio and 58 draws).
Milan have won a league-high six points in the top flight this season thanks to goals scored in the last 10 minutes of games, however Lazio are yet to concede a goal in this period.
Lazio striker Ciro Immobile scored his only Serie A hat-trick at the Olimpico in his last game against AC Milan, with that coming back in September 2017 (4-1 win for Lazio).
Arguably the next best game gives us a derby to look forward to where Genoa have lost their last five encounters against Sampdoria in Serie A, failing to score in four of these games.
Sampdoria have lost their last three games in the league, while conceding at least three goals in each – the last time they lost four in a row in the same season was back in September 2016.
Finally, Cagliari’s last win against Torino in Serie A came back in November 2013 – since then, they have drawn one and lost six of their seven meetings.
Torino have scored in each of their last nine games against Cagliari in the league (23 goals in total), netting at least two goals in seven of those matches.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com
Comments
This article has 0 comment(s) , give your comment