Weekend Serie A Betting Tips: Best Bets for Matchday 24

It was two wins from three last week for Daniele Fisichella in his Weekend Serie A Betting Tips as two late penalties sunk his third, thus missing out on the clean sweep.

He's back with his thoughts about Matchday 24 and as always, our Italian Football expert picks out his three Best Bets of the weekend...

After last Sunday’s big match Juventus are four points behind the leaders Inter.

Is the title race over? Not at all, the Bianconeri won’t give up easily and the return of the Champions League might bring some uncertainty over the Scudetto fight.

What’s sure is that Atalanta and Bologna are two of the teams that play the best football in Italy. They’re separated by only three points, with Gianpiero Gasperini’s men sitting in fourth position, and this weekend they’re both facing tricky matches.

• Record-breaking Bologna can dream big
• Gasperini against his past
• Juve, no longer under pressure, will keep chasing

Bologna vs Lecce (Sunday, time: 14:00)

Never since the introduction of the three points per victory (1995/1996) Bologna have been so high in the table after 23 games.

Thiago Motta’s side are also unbeaten in their last 10 home matches (winning eight and drawing two), as you’d have to go back to 1990 to find such a long streak of positive domestic results. They were worthy winners against Sassuolo last weekend as they achieved their first success of 2024.

Now they have the opportunity to close the gap on Atalanta as after this game against the Salentini next Wednesday they’ll host Fiorentina in the match that was postponed last month due to La Viola’s involvement in the SuperCoppa.

Last Friday the visitors produced a spectacular comeback to beat Fiorentina that left them six points ahed of the relegation zone. Marco Baroni’s team has only won two of the last 16 games, but rarely get trashed.

They’re a very organised side that can make life difficult to Italy’s top sides. Lecce also has a habit of nicking a goal on the road: they’ve scored in five of their last eight away games.

Bologna should come on top but I prefer the Over 2.5 goals at 6/5.

Genoa vs Atalanta (Sunday, time: 17:00)

Both teams are in splendid form, the hosts are unbeaten in eight matches and are eleven points above the relegation places, whereas Atalanta have won four of the last five and have Serie A’s third best attack (alongside Roma).

Since December, the Bergamaschi have found the right balance, and their results have been impressive: eight wins in 10 games in all competitions.

At the weekend, they put three past Lazio, who were unbeaten in five games, with extreme ease and looks like they’re the favourite to finish in the fourth spot.

Newly promoted Genoa have been particularly strong at Marassi so far where they’ve only lost twice and have taken up points from most of Italy’s top sides.

Alberto Gilardino’s team are extremely organised and pugnacious, and can count with one of Serie A’s best goalkeeper (Josep Martinez) and an inspired striker in Albert Guðmundsson (nine goals).

Last month they signed Vitinha, from Olympique Marseille, in the hope they could add that much-needed cutting edge up front.

Genoa have been extremely effective (12th for goals scored and penultimate for shots taken) but also very unlucky: no other team in Serie A has hit the woodwork more time than them (13 in total).

Gianpiero Gasperini’s (also Genoa’s most successful manager of the past 20 years) men look strong but away from home they’ve been shaky: they’ve only kept three clean sheets on the road and conceded 14 goals.

That’s why I like the Both Teams To Score – Yes option with odds of 10/11.

Juventus vs Udinese (Monday, time: 19:45)

The Bianconeri have always considered themselves as outsiders in this Scudetto race and the defeat at San Siro might induce Massimiliano Allegri’s team to play with less pressure.

Last season they did not give up after they got docked 10 points in the table, so why should they stop chasing Inter after what was only their second defeat of the season?

On Sunday Massimiliano Allegri’s side barely laid a glove on the Neroazzurri, but against lower-table teams they’ve been extremely reliable.

Juventus have won four of their last five home matches and have the second best defence in Serie A.

Udinese simply can’t win: they’ve shared the points in 13 occasions this season and haven’t found the net in the last two games. Their only two victories of the campaign came against top sides (Milan and Bologna) but both were to nil.

It’s unlikely the Friulani can manage to keep a clean sheet at the Juventus Stadium but they might nick a goal on the break as they did recently in Florence.

Let’s go for a treble, which you can select using the #PickYourPunt feature: Juventus win, Over 1.5 Goals and Dusan Vlahovic to score anytime at 7/5.

You can check out all of Daniele's Serie A Betting Tips here each week along with those of our other Italian Football writers...