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Serie A Round 2 Odds & Picks: Sampdoria vs Benevento, Spezia vs Sassuolo & Crotone vs AC Milan

Ryan Metivier

by Ryan Metivier in Soccer News

Updated Mar 8, 2021 · 11:37 AM PST

Milan to stay on top in Seriie A Matchday 15?
AC Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu, left, celebrates with his teammate AC Milan's Ante Rebic, his goal against Lazio during a Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Lazio, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
  • Serie A Round 2 kicks off on Saturday, September 26, 2020
  • Spezia, founded in 1906, make their debut in Italy’s top-flight league for the first time in their history
  • Read on for the odds and best bets from Serie A Round 2 below

The 2020/21 Italian Serie A season kicked off last weekend with seven matches. Each of Inter Milan, Atalanta, Lazio, Udinese, Benevento and Spezia were given the week off, but will all be back on the pitch this weekend. Week 2 in Serie A includes a full slate of ten matches across Saturday-Monday.

When the league resumed from the stoppage last season, goals were coming fast and furious. In the first week this season, only 2/7 matches saw both teams scoring and UNDER 2.5 totals went 4-3. Crotone was the only newly-promoted side to play last week and was thumped 4-1. Could that be any indication of how fellow promotees Benevento and Spezia could fair this week? Each are at home this weekend but face stiff competition from Sassuolo and AC Milan in their debuts.

Let’s take a look at the odds for each game this weekend along with our top picks from the slate below.

Serie A Round 2 Odds

Team Moneyline Odds
Torino +350
Atalanta -150
Draw +300
Team Odds
Cagliari +375
Lazio -138
Draw +280
Team Odds
Sampdoria +100
Benevento +260
Draw +250
Team Odds
Inter Milan -223
Fiorentina +350
Draw +550
Team Odds
Spezia +375
Sassuolo -134
Draw +260
Team Odds
Napoli -300
Genoa +800
Draw +425
Team Odds
Verona +162
Udinese +187
Draw +200
Team Odds
Crotone +600
AC Milan -250
Draw +375
Team Odds
Roma +240
Juventus +105
Draw +250
Team Odds
Bologna +100
Parma +250
Draw +260

All odds taken Sept  23 at Bet365

Pick 1: Sampdoria vs Benevento

At 12:00 pm on Saturday, Sampdoria host the newly-promoted Benevento. Benevento, The Witches, are making their return to Italy’s top-flight after being regulated during their first foray into Serie A as recently as three seasons ago during the 2017/18 season. They finished bottom of the table with a 6-3-29 record and a horrendous minus-51 goal-differential.

The following year they made a push to be immediately promoted again, finishing third in Serie B but losing in the promotion playoffs semifinals. Last year, Benevento ran away with the Serie B title, finishing with a record of 26-8-4, while scoring 67 goals and allowing only 27. They finished with 86 points, a huge 18 points above second-placed Crotone.

Head coach Filippo Inzaghi took over the club in June 2019 and has made several transfers this offseason to bolster his side’s hopes of survival in Serie A this time around. Players like Gianluca Lapadula (Genoa), Kamil Glik (Monaco), Federico Barba (Chievo), Artur Ionita (Cagliari), Daam Foulon (Waasland-Beveren) and Gianluca Caprari (loan Sampdoria) have all come on board.

Sampdoria was 15th in Serie A last season but finished the year winless in their last four at 0-1-3. They began this year’s campaign last weekend with a 3-0 loss to champions Juventus. The result wasn’t quite as bad as the scoreline read as the game was only 1-0 until two more Juve goals in the last 12 minutes of the match.

During the 2017/18 season, each of these teams were victorious on their own pitch; Sampdoria winning the first meeting 2-1 and Benevento winning the second 3-2.

It’s tough to know what to expect from Benevento this early on. They played two pre-season warm-up matches, defeating Reggina 2-1 and drawing Lazio 0-0.

In all likelihood, Benevento will find themselves in a relegation dogfight this season, but in their opening match in the big league and a host of new players, I think they may do just enough to grab a point in their debut.

Pick: Draw (+250)

Pick 2: Spezia vs Sassuolo

At 6:30 am EST Sunday morning Spezia begin their Serie A campaign against Sassuolo, last year’s eighth-placed team in Serie A.

Spezia was third in Serie B last season with a 17-10-11 record, scoring 54 goals and allowing 40. They earned promotion by virtue of defeating Frosinone in the Promotion Playoffs Final. However, they didn’t really defeat Frosinone, as both sides won 1-0 in the two-legged final. Spezia was only granted promotion as the higher-ranked team during the regular season (3rd vs 8th) to earn their club’s first-ever season in Serie A.

It’s a huge moment for the side, formed in 1906 and who hasn’t played in Italy’s top-flight division since the 1920s, prior to the current Serie A league being formed. Following bankruptcy in 2008, Spezia has rebuilt and worked their way up from Serie D to Serie A, something that not even owner Gabriele Volpi admitted he expected to happen. The club is so small that they currently will not be playing on their home ground at the Stadio Alberto Picco, while renovations are being made to get the stadium up to Serie A standards.

Sassuolo were the surprise package in Serie A last year, finishing eighth, after three seasons of finishing 12th and 11th and 11th. They enter their eighth season in Serie A in their club’s history.

Manager Roberto De Zerbi has returned, as well as the bulk of last year’s exciting squad which scored the sixth-most goals in the league with 69. Their open, attacking style did often leave them exposed at the back, as they conceded 63 goals, ranking them just 13th defensively—making them an OVER bettors dream.

Their opening match of the season though, came very close to ending in a scoreless stalemate against Cagliari. Cagliari took a late lead in the 77th minute, before Sassuolo drew level in the 87th with a free-kick goal from Mehdi Bourabia. No goals from the run of play was not what we came accustomed to from I Neroverdi last season, yet they did hold 65-percent of the possession, as well as the advantage in attempts (21-8) and shots on target (10-4).

Sassuolo proved to be one of the stronger team’s in Serie A last season and with much of the same squad returning they should dispatch of the Bianconeri.

Pick: Sassuolo win (-134)

Pick 3: Crotone vs AC Milan

I didn’t come into this column planning to have bets involved on all the promoted sides but that looks like how things are shaping up. New boys Crotone host top four contenders AC Milan at 12:00 pm Sunday afternoon. Crotone was second in Serie B last season, earning automatic promotion. They allowed just 40 goals in 38 matches in the second-tier, but that defense was put to the test in their opener last weekend against Genoa.

Genoa scored a total of just 47 goals in 38 matches last season in Serie A, better than only four sides, two of which were relegated. However, last week they put up four against Crotone in a 4-1 rout. It was 2-0 less than ten minutes into the match and 3-1 going into the half. Striker Simy Nwankwo was held off the scoresheet but he was Crotone’s and Serie B’s top scorer last year with 20 goals. He’s +175 as an anytime scorer in the match.

AC Milan ended the 2019/20 season as one of the most in-form sides in the league. When Serie A returned from the COVID-19 shutdown, Milan went 9-3-0, undefeated in all 12 matches, scoring 35 and allowing just 12, to finish sixth in the league with 66 points. They have their sights set on a top-four finish this season and are priced at +175 odds to do so.

Overall, across all competitions, including friendlies, AC Milan is now undefeated in 19 matches. Take preseason friendlies for what they are, but Milan went 4-0-0 in warm-up matches, outscoring their opponents 16-5. They were then 2-0 winners over the Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League and kicked off their Serie A campaign with a 2-0 home win over Bologna last week. Omn Thursday they will be in action in the Europa League again against the high-fliyng Bodo/Glimt of the Norwegian Eliteserien.

AC Milan simply to win this match offers little value. A Milan win, in which they score at least two goals will offer a respectable -150 return. For a bit more value, I’ll take AC Milan on the spread or Asian Handicap at -1.5 at +115 odds.

Pick: AC Milan -1.5 (+115)

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