Serie A kicks off with Juventus playing against Fiorentina on Sunday evening.
Juventus are starting this season as defending champions from last season, and are hoping to get their 6th consecutive Scudetto. Their opponents, Fiorentina is hoping to improve from last year’s disappointing 5th place, after leading the table for some time.
Of course, Massimiliano Allegri wishes his team to start this season strong, but admits it will take some time for his men to find their best form. Last season start was painful for Juventus, winning only 1 match from opening 6 matches. But the turnaround was tremendous, winning 26 out of 27 last league matches, which gave them the title once again.
The transfer market was excellent for the Bianconeri, as they have brought a few new players. Higuain, Pjanic, Alves, Benatia, Lemina are all the new names in the black-and-white shirts. Despite strengthening the team with some excellent players, Allegri is still cool headed with the statement:
“The fact we’ve brought in some great players doesn’t mean we’ve won the title by default. To win the Scudetto you need to have earned it on the pitch, with the same applying for the Champions League. Let’s take one step at a time.” The news, you just couldn’t miss is Pogba left “The Old Lady” for Manchester United. But I think Juventus is just as, if not stronger this year, compared to last season.
Fiorentina, on the other hand did not have as “crazy” summer as Juventus regarding the transfer market. It seems Fiorentina has been more focused on keeping his team intact, although adding Bartłomiej Drągowski and Kevin Diks to his team. They surely want to improve their last season performance, as they could easily achieve higher position than 5th place. It’s too early to predict if they will manage to do so, as we first need to see how they perform in the upcoming matches in Serie A.
VERDICT
It seems obvious to back Juventus with this one, but taking into consideration Fiorentina did in fact show they can score a goal or two in Torin (3:1) and (3:2), gives me doubts about choosing a handicap on Juventus. In that regard I see much better value on Over 2.25 and BTTS.
Prediction: Over 2.25
Odds: 1.95 SBOBET
Prediction: Both Teams To Score
Odds: 2.25