Serie A Matchday 34 Preview

It’s Liberation day in Italy on Wednesday and from Tuesday evening through to Wednesday night there is a full program of games. It seems that every test put in front of Juventus is passed with honours these days and the Old Lady must surely have the Scudetto at her mercy now. Can they achieve the very rare distinction of an unbeaten season to cap it all off ? They travel to Cesena and will be warm favourites against the club in the basement. AC Milan have choked badly and cannot be considered worthy Champions of Italy from their recent results- yet they are still not out of it. They face Genoa at the same time as Juve are on. Udinese v Inter is an eye catchcing game while Lazio and Napoli are both away from home. Get your bets on by 17.30 BST on Tuesday when the first 2 games kick off the Liberation Italia football fun. Most of the games have been scheduled to finish before this week’s Champions League semis kick off in Spain.

Neither Atalanta v Chievo or Cagliari v Catania makes for the most gripping of games. Chievo have a fine record with Atalanta and sit a few positions above them in the table but this is thanks to Atalanta’s 6 point penalty. A game I will not risk much on but if pushed, I would plump for the 7/2 about Chievo. Cagliari are too short at evens for the visit of Catania, especially since their recent form is quite poor. Lazio have an early game on Wednesday and they will be expected to win it and indeed need to do so. They travel to relegated Novara- a team that just could not make the grade this year. Lazio have a great chance of third place, achieving Champions League football and they should take a big 3 point step towards this on Wednesday. I would be looking to pick one or two from their ranks for the fantasy football side and they would be a cornerstone for the accumulator too.

The standout early afternoon game must be Udinese v Inter. Only 3 points separate the 2 sides , though Udinese have led the big Milan side in the rankings all season long. Should Inter get the away win, they would strengthen their quest for Europa League football which is a comedown from what they are used to but they would be delighted to finish in the top 5 now. That would give them the same points total as their hosts though Udinese have a better goal difference and have only lost the 1 game at the Friuli all season. The home team have been goal shy in recent weeks while Inter have been poor away from home under both previous managers. I doubt things will change much here. This tie could be low on goals and a wager on a correct scoreline might be fun on a 1-1 or scoreless draw.

Cesena’s fans are likely to see a few goals in the evening with Juventus the visitors. You will agree with me that the likelihood is that the home fans will not be celebrating those goals. Cesena are down and Juventus’ have their sights locked on to the first Scudetto in the post Calciopoli ’06 era. Juventus have a wonderful defence and midfield which has been the foundation of their seemingly successful title challenge which now is favoured to make it 38 unbeaten. They are not a betting proposition at 1/4 but are worth combining in a favoured treble or for inclusion in your fantasy football team. Take your pick from Buffon in goal, Lichsteiner or Chiellini at the back or Pirlo and Marchisio in the middle. All of them have been consistent points scorers all season. The team has won 6 Serie A games in succession and could not have timed their run any better. The draws which were slowing them down, have stopped. Expect win number 7 to be easily achieved.

In stark contrast AC Milan, who have a home game with Genoa, could not have chosen a worse time to show poor form and results. They have turned themselves from favourites to fools in a few short weeks and their last 2 home games were truly disastrous, losing to Fiorentina and only drawing with Bologna. They will be without Pato and Boateng for this but Genoa have been amongst the worst away teams in Italy, losing 11 and have not won any of their last 10 matches. It’s a perfect opportunity for AC to keep some pressure on Juventus and try to take the fight to the very end. Surely there won’t be a third successive San Siro mess up?

Roma have Fiorentina and should beat them. Remarkably for a consistent team, Fiorentina have not beaten Roma in the capital for 20 seasons. Roma have a number of injury concerns but have shown strong home form of late and can heap futher relegation pressure on La Viola. Roma to collect their sixth home win in seven games. Elsewhere, it would be unwise to get involved in Siena v Bologna. Only a point separates them and anything could happen. In the final 2 games I’m keeping faith with Palermo to beat Parma and I guess Lecce could well hurt Napoli’s hopes for third by taking a point as they try to avoid the drop. The home side have found some late momentum and are unbeaten in 6 Serie A games while Napoli have lost 3 in the same period. A Lecce win would pay 2/1 and it’s a real possibility.

April 23, 2012 at 9:55 pm | Serie A