Serie A Matchday 15 Odds & Picks: Milan Still On Top, Juve to Bounce Back & Goals Between Atalanta vs Sassuolo

• Serie A Matchday 15 features ten matches on Sunday, January 3, 2020
• Juventus are 18-2-1 following a loss
• Read on for the odds and our best bets from Serie A Matchday 15 here

After a short break, Italian soccer returns this weekend with ten matches on Sunday for Serie A Matchday 15.

AC Milan sits top of the table as the lone undefeated team but are closely followed by Inter who have won seven straight. With Inter likely to pick up another three points at home to Crotone in the first match of the round at 6:30 am EST Sunday, AC Milan could find themselves staring up at their rivals come their own kick-off later in the day.

Let’s look ahead to the odds and best bets from the Serie A Matchday 15 schedule below.

Serie A Matchday 15 Odds

All odds taken Dec 30 at Bet365

Atalanta vs Sassuolo

This one has the potential to be the most exciting match of the weekend when seventh-placed Atalanta hosts fourth-place Sassuolo at 9:00 am EST. The two are separated by just four points and the match will be important as Sassuolo aims to stay in the top four and Atalanta tries to break into the European places.

History is heavily on the side of Atalanta as Sassuolo has not won a head-to-head meeting since April 2014. In 13 matches since Atalanta is 9-4-0 (WDL). That includes seven-straight wins for La Dea and two 4-1 wins last season. In the season prior, they were also 3-1 and 6-2 winners.

The #SerieATIM League Table at the end of 2020. 🙌
What are your predictions for 2021? ⬆️ ⬇️#WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/CluJrqIPr1

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 24, 2020

While both teams have gained a reputation for attacking, often at the expense of playing tight defensively, both rank among the top seven in goals allowed this season. Going forward, Atalanta is fourth in goals scored (28) and Sassuolo sixth (26).

Both teams also went through a spell of lower-scoring affairs this season but went into the Christmas break on the back of two high-scoring matches.

Atalanta’s December saw them top Fiorentina 3-0, draw with Juve 1-1 and then defeat Roma 4-1 and draw with Bologna 2-2 in their last match.

🇮🇹 Francesco Caputo in 2020… 🔥🔥🔥

First @azzurri appearance ✅
2⃣8⃣ goal involvements in 3⃣2⃣ games for club & county ✅ pic.twitter.com/nqw65XO8e1

— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) December 30, 2020

The Neroverdi, meanwhile, fell 2-1 to leaders Milan, before a five-goal thriller (3-2 win) over Sampdoria before the break.

It’s hard to see either team’s offense being kept quiet here. Even at home, Atalanta have kept just one clean sheet in their win over struggling Fiorentina, while Sassuolo has been kept off the scoresheet just once on their travels this season.

Pick: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals (-125)

Fiorentina vs Bologna

Another of the seven 9:00 am EST matches on Sunday morning pits together 14th-placed Fiorentina at home to 13th-placed Bologna.

Both of these teams have seen a lot of draws of late. Bologna have now drawn three-straight after ending level with Atalanta 2-2 in the last match,

Fiorentina should be full of confidence after defeating champions Juve 3-0 in their last match. However, they have drawn three of five and their previous win came way back in October.

Last season Fiorentina won 4-0 at home while the teams drew 1-1 in Bologna. In 2018/19 both games ended 0-0 and the season before that the Viola won both 2-1. Prior to that, five of six meetings saw one team keep a clean sheet. So really anything could happen from a recent trend standpoint in regards to the total. One trend that has been consistent is a lack of Bologna wins. The Rossoblu haven’t defeated Fiorentina since a 2-1 home win in 2013 and have failed to win in the next 12 meetings.

Bologna is 9-5 to OVER 2.5 totals while Fiorentina is only 6-8. Truthfully, I can’t trust either of these teams. Bologna will concede, one maybe two, that’s almost a given with how they play. But Fiorentina’s win over Juve is deceiving considering they played much of the match with an advantage after a Juve red card.

These teams actually both rank in the top half of the table in expected goals according to FBRef with Bologna eighth at 19.7 and Fiorentina in ninth at 18.8. They also both rank in the bottom half for expected goals against, Fiorentina 13th at 21.4 and Bologna 16th with 22.5.

A draw could be in the cards but I’d prefer to back the goals market here.

Pick: Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals (-105)

Serie A Matchday 15 Parlay

When I was first looking at this card over the break these two games jumped out to me as a straightforward parlay. Of course, sometimes these easy ones look too easy for a reason, but still. If you want a little action on the two afternoon matches for Serie A Matchday 15 here’s a two-game parlay.

Benevento vs AC Milan

At 12:00 pm EST Sunday afternoon, the leaders AC Milan will play newcomers Benevento on the road.

Benevento are clearly the most impressive newcomer to the league this season and perhaps they would be disappointed to have had a couple of weeks off. Filipo Inzaghi’s team went into the break after a 1-1 draw with Lazio and 2-0 wins over both Genoa and Udinese. That puts them right in the middle of the pack in tenth with 18 points.

Indispensable! 2020’s Top Assistman is #Calhanoglu, who takes the crown with 13 assists! 👏#SerieATIM #WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/rEEc3eEeOK

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 30, 2020

As impressive as that is, their opponents on Sunday are in imperious form. Heading into the break AC Milan were 2-1 winners over Sassuolo and 3-2 winners over Lazio, to leave them one point ahead of second-place Inter in the table.

AC Milan are undefeated in 26 Serie A matches with 19 of those being wins. Somehow, they’ve also managed to score two or more goals in 16-straight. Whether you feel more comfortable taking a Milan win or Milan to score OVER 1.5 teams goals (-175), is up to you, but either could be good in this parlay.

Juventus vs Udinese

After a shocking 3-0 loss to Fiorentina in their last match, Juventus are quickly losing ground in the title race, now ten points back. They’ll look to right the ship when they host 12th-place Udinese at 2:45 pm EST on Serie A Matchday 15.

While Juventus haven’t looked like their usual dominating selves in some time, a loss, at home to a Fiorentina side who had been winless in eight, was not expected. True, an early red card did Juve no favors but it will serve as a harsh wake-up call for Andrea Pirlo’s side that they need to be better if they want to defend their title.

2020 has its Top Scorer! 🔥👏@Cristiano has been the most prolific player, scoring goal, after goal, after goal! 🤯#SerieATIM #WeAreCalcio pic.twitter.com/Cg7PjKnlJm

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) December 31, 2020

Udinese return after a 2-0 defeat to Benevento, which followed 1-1 and 0-0 draws to Cagliari and Crotone. Away from home, they’ve actually been strong, now undefeated in four. They also defeated Juventus 2-1 in the last meeting between the two sides in July. However, Juventus had won each of the previous six meetings and each of the past five at home in all competitions.

Juve rarely lose. When they do, they rarely lose in back-to-back matches. It did happen once already this season when they lost back-to-back matches to Cagliari and Roma but that’s a rarity.

The last time? That was way back in 2015 when they lost on August 23 and 30th in the league. Since that time and until this season, they have suffered just 20 losses in league play. In the games following Juve were 18-2-0 (WDL). Look for a bounce back from Ronaldo and co. on Sunday.

Pick: AC Milan win / Juventus win – Parlay (+119)