First round of Serie B is here, and with 9 matches already being played, it’s now time for Cesena and Perugia to show what they have got to show in this season.
Cesena has finished last season in a respectable 6th palace- That gave them a spot in the Play-offs, where they lost to Spezia (2:1) due to a late goal scored by Postigo in 86′. With that defeat, they lost the opportunity to get promoted. The promotion in the end belonged to Pescara, who now plays in Serie A. This season Cesena targets a high finish, which would get them another shot at promotion. Quite frankly a top 2 would be a hard task, but finishing in top 8 is expected from them. Looking at pre-season matches, Cesena has proven they should not be underestimated. I will only mention the “biggest” win they managed, which was against Fiorentina (2:0). Being it was against a team that is in the top of Serie A it gives some room to think how strong Cesena can be under the right circumstances. Today they will face off against Perugia at the same venue as they did against Fiorentina, at Stadio Dino Manuzzi.
Perugia has settled with a mid table finish last season. It is somewhat a poor result, when we take into consideration, they were 10 points short of 8th place, which would give them a ticket to test their strengths in Play-offs. This year I do not expect much more from them, but to call it so soon would be just.. stupid. First we need to see them play and decide if they improved from last season’s performances. Pre-season matches were decent to say the least. 4W and 1D out of last 5 matches is a great record. But we need mustn’t overlook the fact that, all of those matches were played at home. It’s well known fact Serie B teams perform much better in front of their own fans as they do on the road. That is clearly seen, when we take a look at Perugia away record. On the road they have not won in 5 matches, which is clearly different that 4-1-0 at home.
VERDICT
The teams have met each other last year at Cesena home ground where the guests celebrated a victory over Perugia (2:1). Teams seem to fairly similar quality vise, if I had to choose Cesena is slightly better. With that in mind and a home pitch advantage of Cesena, pick Cesena at -0.25, just to secure a possible draw.
Prediction: Cesena -0.25
Odds: 1.75 Pinnacle
