Grudge Matches Turn the Heat up in the Serie A and La Liga
Published January 18, 2020 by Florin P
Real Madrid and Sevilla meet at the top of the La Liga, while fading Fiorentina and Napoli try to end the slide in the Serie A.
Saturday is a delightful day for football fans, with dozens of matches scheduled in all the important European football leagues. The most anticipated games are played in the Italian Serie A and the Spanish La Liga, while English football takes a place on the backseat. Real Madrid and Sevilla play a highly anticipated match that could determine the final placement of the teams at the end of the season.
The Premier League Shifts into Lower Gear on Saturday
A record number of eight matches are scheduled for Saturday afternoon in the English Premier League. Chelsea and Tottenham are favorites on the road against Newcastle and Watford, while Manchester City are expected to crush Crystal Palace at home. With Kane still injured, it comes as no surprise that bet365 Sports offers odds of 13/10 on the Londoners to claim a rare victory on the road.
Arsenal used to be a force in the English first division, but they are now only slight favorites at home against Sheffield United. Odds of 9/10 on the Gunners might seem surprisingly high, but the hosts have a plethora of players missing due to injuries. Their recent results were also disappointing and they were unable to defend a narrow lead over Crystal Palace last weekend.
Real Madrid and Sevilla Play the Match of the Day
Real Madrid are tied for the lead with Barcelona and desperately need the victory over Sevilla to stay on top. They have home pitch advantage and are in excellent form, which explains why 888 Sport credits them with the first chance. Odds of 13/20 are quite tempting for the team that is yet to lose a home match this season, but the visitors are not to be trifled with.
Sevilla fought back against Athletic Bilbao, but in the end, they had to settle for one point in front of their fans. The fact that they were only able to level after the visitors scored in their own net is worrisome ahead of this match. Real Madrid is playing offensive football and will exercise a lot of pressure, so the visitors will have a hard time cashing in on odds of 4/1 to win.
Fiorentina Try to Extend Napoli’s Misery in the Serie A
Fiorentina are one of the worst traveling teams in the Italian first division, but this doesn’t concern them too much ahead of this fixture. That’s because they play against Napoli, a team that is struggling heavily regardless of venue. The hosts have won a single Serie A match in the last 10 rounds.
The visitors will not play their standard defensive football and instead will try to take advantage of their opponents’ struggles and pick up a rare away win. Given the head to head record and Fiorentina’s poor away record, punters can expect tempting odds of 4/1. Meanwhile, it is more difficult to justify the rather low odds of 13/10 offered on a Napoli victory.
