Juventus’ climb up the Serie A table continued on Saturday when they beat Hellas Verona at the Allianz Stadium thanks to a second half Moise Kean strike.
I Bianconeri have clawed their way back into top four contention, recovering impressively from a 15 point deduction to climb within four points of the Champions League places; and with ten games still to play they have plenty of time to win their place among Europe’s elite. Max Allegri’s side has responded magnificently to their punishment and with an ‘us against the world’ mentality they are hitting form at the perfect stage of the campaign.
Juve are chasing two trophies, the Europa League and the Coppa Italia and are strong contenders in both tournaments and, on a run of eight wins from nine in all competitions, they could have a successful end to the campaign.
A Champions League spot and a trophy will be a triumph for the Old Lady and that is definitely on the cards.
They need the teams above them to continue faltering, but Juventus are certainly doing their bit and though they weren’t at their best against Hellas Verona, they edged a tight affair when Kean fired latched on to a superb ball from Manuel Locatelli and smashed home his sixth goal of the campaign. I Bianconeri could have had another goal but Danilo’s first half chance hit the frame of the goal and bounced to safety, while Verona came close when Fabio Depaoli hammered a volley narrowly wide.
The Serie A 2023 betting odds on the Old Lady winning a top four place are dropping by the week and the Milan clubs, Atalanta and Roma are looking over their shoulders.
Inter in danger of collapse
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan lost more ground in the top four race on Saturday when they fell to a third consecutive defeat when they went down to in-form Fiorentina. They lost away to struggling Spezia and then Inter were beaten 1-0 at home by Juventus before La Viola inflicted the same pain on Inzaghi’s team at the San Siro Stadium.
Inter were in good shape to finish second but this barren run means they are only two points ahead of Atalanta in fifth place. Team of the season Napoli have the Scudetto in their sights with a 19 point lead over second placed Lazio; but Inter could have gone second until they went down to La Viola who, with a fifth win in a row still have faint hopes of winning a Europa League place. Giacomo Bonaventura sunk I Nerazzurri but Inzaghi will be in despair at the performance of his strikers who drew a blank at home for the second match in succession.
Chelsea star Romelu Lukaku, on loan at Inter, missed a sitter to continue a miserable run of form. Blues boss Graham Potter, under serious pressure himself has hinted there may be a future for the Belgian at Stamford Bridge, but he will be of little use to anyone if he continues to be wasteful in front of goal.
Lukaku missed an open goal from six yards out, minutes into the second half and his howler looked even worse when Fiorentina scored the winner. Bonaventura showed the Inter man how to do it when he nodded in a rebound from a corner after 53 minutes. Even then the hosts could have levelled but Nicolo Barella’s half volley smashed against the crossbar as Inter fell to another defeat.
They have met two in form teams in Juventus and Fiorentina; but losing is a habit and Inter need to shake it off.
La Dea pile more misery on Cremonese
In other Serie A 2023 news Atalanta moved up into fifth place with a 3-1 win over Cremonese who remain rooted the bottom spot and 11 points from safety. La Dea’s attack minded strategy paid off as Martin de Roon, Jeremie Boga and Ademola Lookman pushed La Cremona closer to the drop.
Daniele Ciofani scored a reply from the penalty spot and, with 15 shots to 12 and four each on target, the hosts could feel they deserved a point but Atalanta were ruthless to make it back to back wins.
Napoli host AC Milan in the late Sunday kick-off. We previewed that game, here at SBOTOP and expect Gli Azzurri to push closer to their inevitable title though fourth placed Milan are desperate for a result to keep their season on track. Before that Roma host Sampdoria on Sunday and they could climb into the top four with a win, while Lazio stay second thanks to a 2-0 victory away to Monza.
But all eyes are on Juventus.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE FOOTBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
