Soccer Italy Serie A Prediction

Lecce vs Udinese - Match Preview

⚽ 28 April 2023 - 16:30 GMT +0

Lecce lost 2-0 to AC Milan last weekend to extend their winless league run to eight matches (D1, L7), although defiant coach Marco Baroni pointed out that his side has “the determination to improve.” There’s certainly room for improvement in the final third, with Lecce scoring only two goals across those eight games and only two Serie A (SA) clubs have scored fewer than their 26 this season. Unless the ‘determination’ Baroni speaks about translates to results, the hosts could be swiftly returning to Serie B, as they start the round just two points above the bottom three.

The impending danger of relegation can certainly be quelled, but their form at the Stadio Via del Mare hasn’t been encouraging since they posted back-to-back 2-1 home wins over Atalanta and Lazio either side of the World Cup break (D3, L4 since). At least there’s some hope to be taken from the history books, as the Yellow and Reds have proved they can go toe-to-toe with Udinese across 14 SA home H2Hs (W7, D1, L6).

Sitting ten points adrift of seventh place, Udinese are racing against time to keep alive their faltering push for potential European qualification. Their prospects would certainly have been much better if Juventus’ point deduction hadn’t been reversed, but ultimately the blame lies on Udinese themselves with an indifferent recent 12-game run (W3, D5, L4) certainly not helping their European push.

Even with their season fading out, coach Andrea Sottil had nothing but pride after his team’s 3-0 win over Cremonese last matchday kept them level with sides who have “a budget of over 80 million euros.” Encouragingly, they are still in line to post a first top-ten finish since 2012/13, and a visit to Lecce where they’ve won their last two league games should give them the confidence to step up and halt their current two-game losing run on the road.

📋 Players to watch: Lecce’s Gabriel Strefezza has seen four of his last six SA goals come in matches that eventually ended 2-1 (W2, L2). Meanwhile, Isaac Success rounded off Udinese’s scoring in their 3-0 win over Cremonese and has six league assists this season, including one in the reverse H2H.

⚡ Hot stat: Excluding draws, 12 of 27 top-flight H2H games have seen a 2-1 scoreline.

Spezia vs Monza - Match Preview

⚽ 28 April 2023 - 18:45 GMT +0

A fierce 1-1 Ligurian derby draw against Sampdoria kept Spezia one point ahead of the Serie A (SA) relegation zone ahead of this round. However, only one win across the last 13 league matches (D6, L6) has left the Aquilotti nervously looking over their shoulders as they are in desperate need of points to stave off the drop.

Spezia hasn’t been intimidating hosts so far this term, with only three league victories at Stadio Alberto Picco (D8, L5), but they’re yet to lose here against fellow bottom-half sides at least (W2, D5). A joint-league high of eight home stalemates overall has helped their cause, but another failure to win could see the Ligurian side end this round in the relegation zone.

Monza is travelling on a high after beating Inter Milan and Fiorentina in their last two outings, and another victory here could see Raffaelle Palladino’s men break into the top half. Monza’s young coach was the architect of the incredible turnaround in the last round when his side went 2-0 down in the opening 13 minutes, but still earned three points against the Viola in one of their most impressive successes of the season.

Only one defeat across their last seven matches (W3, D3), including a three-game unbeaten run on the road (W1, D2), makes Monza slight favourites here. However, the visitors need to avoid a similar scenario to last weekend as they’re still winless in all nine away league matches to see them concede first (D3, L6), whilst they won five of six such outings when opening the scoring!

📋 Players to watch: Daniele Verde saved a crucial point for Spezia after the break last weekend, but three of his last four goals came in the opening 40 minutes. Monza-born Matteo Pessina scored the winner last week against Fiorentina from the penalty spot, with his last three league goals all second-half penalties.

⚡ Hot stat: Monza is yet to lose against a current bottom-five SA side this term (W4, D4).