Football betting analyst Mark O’Haire returns to share a couple of his favourite fancies across the globe with a focus on Serie A and the Premier League this weekend.
Bologna boss Vincenzo Italiano admitted the Rossoblu “were not up to our usual standards” in their 2-0 reverse to Atalanta last weekend. The defeat was only Bologna’s fifth of the Serie A campaign thus far and saw the side drop out of the top-four positions. Now they face arguably their toughest test of the season with Inter coming to town on Sunday.
The league leaders and defending champions are fresh from securing their spot in the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday night, though Simone Inzaghi may look to freshen up his first-team for the short trip to Emilia-Romagna. It’s a tight turnaround for the Nerazzurri and both physical and mental fatigue could be an issue for the visitors here.
Bologna should engineer opportunities. The hosts rank third for Expected Goals (xG) output at home this term with only Inter creating more Big Chances in front of their own supporters. The Rossoblu have won the shot count in 15 of their 16 fixtures at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium, whilst also winning the xG battle on 13 occasions on home soil.
Italiano’s outfit have scored in 26 of their overall 32 league matches with Bologna also bagging in 15 of their 16 Renato Dall’Ara showdowns, which includes a 1-1 draw with title-contenders Napoli here last time out. Chuck in the 2-2 draw earned away at Inter already this season and the Rossoblu should be well-capable of making their mark here.
Inter do boast the best defensive data in Serie A, though the visitors have accumulated only three league clean sheets in 14 and have conceded in six of nine trips to top-12 teams. With that in-mind, I’m happy to support Both Teams To Score at 1.91 – Inter have scored in 14 of 16 away days, whilst Bologna have seen BTTS bank in six of eight at home to the top-11.
Liverpool require only six points to be crowned Premier League champions and the Reds should take a step closer to silverware when they travel to face all-but-relegated Leicester on Sunday afternoon. The Foxes have lost eight successive King Power Stadium showdowns without scoring and have been beaten in all 12 meetings with top-seven opposition.
Arne Slot’s table-toppers have taken top honours in all of their encounters with the bottom-seven this season and have posted W16-D2-L0 when facing-off against sides in 10th and below. Liverpool may not have been at their uncompromising best in more recent weeks, though it would be a major surprise if the Reds failed to secure maximum points here.
I’m happy to package a Liverpool win alongside Liverpool Under 1.5 Cards. The Merseysiders have avoided collecting a booking in five of their last seven Premier League outings, including three straight away days. Go further back and the Reds have earned a maximum of one caution in five of their most recent eight EPL games outside of Anfield.
Meanwhile, a massive 14 of Leicester’s last 16 opponents have picked up Under 1.5 Cards – eight of those sides avoided a card altogether a similar low haul could be in the offing on Sunday evening.
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