Italian Serie A
2007-09-16 - Juventus vs Udinese
A Sports Betting Pick by Mario
Juventus Back on Top – But for How Long?
Two games into the new Italian season, and at this early stage Juventus sit in pole position, rejuvenated after their spell in Serie B.
Juventus host Udinese on Saturday, who’ll be licking their wounds after a 5-0 mauling at home to newly promoted Napoli.
Juve have won their opening two fixtures and their ‘Tinkerman’ manager, Claudio Ranieri, believes they have the quality to be successful. However, not all the signs are positive. In week two Juve needed a 90th minute strike to win 3-2 at lowly Cagliari, after an less than convincing performance.
Ranieri will be missing two key defenders – Boumsong and Zebina – for at least a month, while Alessandero Del Piero’s lacklustre performance for the national side against France has led to suggestions that the Old Lady may need a younger talisman.
Udinese did manage a surprise opening round 1-1 draw at Inter Milan - but it's hard to use that result to construct any sort of argument for a repeat performance.
THE FORM
Head to Head Form
This fixture usually has just one result - a home win - although it must be noted that three of those victories have been by just a one goal margin.
05/02/06 Juventus 1-0 Udinese
13/02/05 Juventus 2-1 Udinese
09/11/03 Juventus 4-1 Udinese
26/10/02 Juventus 1-0 Udinese
06/01/02 Juventus 3-0 Udinese
Juventus
Travelling to play Juventus is a tough task - as the Old Lady has won 42 of 55 (76%) home fixtures in the previous three seasons.
2005-06 HOME 14-5-0 = 47 pts.
2004-05 HOME 15-2-2 = 47 pts.
2003-04 HOME 13-1-3 = 40 pts.
Udinese
Udinese always seem to struggle on the road - and the trend is getting worse each season.
2006-07 AWAY 3-6-9 = 15 pts.
2005-06 AWAY 5-5-9 = 20 pts.
2004-05 AWAY 9-4-6 = 31 pts.
THE VERDICT
A strong home favourite then - and the price of 1.40 is fair value.
The Pick :
Juventus 3-1 Udinese
