Serie A Matchweek 31 Betting Preview
Derby D’Italia Pivotal in Serie A Title Race
Juve vs Inter, Atalanta vs Napoli Headline Weekend
Unbelievably, Italy recently missed out on a second straight World Cup as they were beaten by North Macedonia in a UEFA playoff. Despite the massive disappointment for the national team, there’s plenty for Italian soccer fans to get excited about at the club level in a three-team title race. Preseason Serie A betting tips favored Inter Milan to repeat as champions, but Simone Inzaghi’s team has slipped up in recent weeks.
AC Milan have a golden opportunity to win their first Serie A title in 11 years but just three points separate them and second-place Napoli. Inter have a game in hand on their city rivals and could get within three points of first with a win in the Derby d’Italia vs Juventus. After a slow start, Juve have played themselves back into contention with four consecutive wins and have an exciting strike partnership in Dusan Vlahovic and Paulo Dybala.
Derby D’Italia Takes Center Stage
The two most successful teams in Italian history will meet in another edition of the Derby D’Italia on Sunday. Most recently, Alexis Sanchez’s extra-time winner propelled Inter Milan to a SuperCoppa Italiana title vs. Juventus in January. Since then, Juve have added Serbian international striker Vlahovic in a blockbuster transfer and he could be the X-factor in this match.
Vlahovic registered a goal and an assist in Juve’s last match, a 2-0 win over Salernitana. He’s scored five goals in 11 appearances and the Bianconeri are unbeaten in Serie A since he joined. Despite going out of the Champions League in embarrassing fashion to Villarreal, fourth-place Juventus hold Serie A’s longest win streak and are just seven points behind leaders AC Milan.
Juve would overtake Inter for third place with a win here. The Nerazzurri are winless in their last 10 matches away at Juventus in all competitions. Despite Inter’s struggles at the Allianz Stadium, they are slight favorites in this pick’em. The Serie A betting odds list Inter at +155 while Juventus are listed at +185. More risk-averse bettors may want to consider betting on either side as a pick’em and Juve are intriguing at +105.
Despite winning just one of their last five Serie A matches and drawing in their last two, one advantage the Nerazzurri have coming into this match is a clean bill of health. Defender Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Marcelo Brozovic were cleared to return to full training this week and they’ve both been key players this season.
Juventus will be missing Denis Zakaria and Weston McKennie while defender Luca Pellegrini is suspended.
Napoli Dealing With Absences
Despite getting close on multiple occasions, Napoli haven’t won a title since the Diego Maradona days. They were discounted at the beginning of the season by most Serie A soccer predictions, but they’re currently right in the mix. With a tough test in Bergamo vs. Atalanta coming up on Sunday, Napoli’s eight-game road unbeaten streak in Serie A is on the line.
Luckily for the Partenopei, Atalanta have been dreadful at home this season. Atalanta have won just four of their 14 home matches in Serie A and have picked up just 18 points in Bergamo compared to 33 on the road. Despite their woes at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia, an important Serie A betting tip is that Atalanta have lost to Napoli just once in the last eight meetings.
Earlier this season, Atalanta picked up a 3-2 comeback win in Naples and haven’t lost at home to Napoli since 2018. In La Dea’s last match, teenager Moustapha Cisse marked his debut with a game-winning goal at Bologna and could see more time as Duvan Zapata is out. Captain Rafael Toloi is also expected to miss this one.
Napoli, on the other hand, are dealing with a host of injuries and suspensions for this one, which is reflected in the odds. The Partenopei are +210 underdogs and have conceded in their last eight matches. Striker Victor Osimhen and center back Amir Rrahmani are suspended while defender Giovanni di Lorenzo and midfielders Piotr Zielinski, Andre Zambo Anguissa and Adam Ounas are out injured.
With Napoli missing two starting defenders, Atalanta over 1½ goals at +120 seems interesting. However, this could be a tough match to predict with so many moving parts.
AC Milan Keeping Everything Out
League leaders AC Milan have won six straight matches vs. Bologna and are in need of all three points once again. They are -250 favorites coming into Monday’s match. Serie A betting tips predict Milan as the likely winner and they’ve won their last three Serie A matches by a 1-0 scoreline. The center back pairing of Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu has been rock solid in recent weeks and has kept the talented Alessio Romagnoli confined to the bench.
Five of the Rossoneri’s last six Serie A matches have finished with fewer than three goals and they’ve kept four consecutive shutouts in all competitions. Despite Bologna winning just one of their last 10 matches, they’ve conceded one goal or fewer in their last five matches and only one of those has finished with more than two goals.
With AC Milan winning by such tight margins in recent weeks and playing very well defensively, their shutout streak may very well continue. After all, Bologna have failed to score in their last three matches.
