Serie A / Dave Farrar / 10 September 2011 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

The start of the new Serie A season has finally arrived, so Dave Farrar is back to run the rule over the opening fixtures of last term's surprise top-four finishers Napoli and Udinese...

Cesena v Napoli

Napoli won this fixture 4-1 last season, and while I don't see Napoli being quite that dominant this time round, they're still worth supporting to come away from Cesena with three points. They're trading at [2.26] for the win, and even though some people will talk about Cesena's artificial pitch and the impact that might have on the visitors, I actually think that the surface will suit the slick style of the Neapolitans.

They have a big Champions League match to come next week, when they play Manchester City, but Walter Mazzarri is determined to mount a strong challenge for the Scudetto this season, one that could make a mockery of the [20.0] that's available in the outright market.

Cesena pulled off a miraculous escape from relegation last season, and have recruited well enough in the summer to stop them struggling too much this time round, but the likes of Adrian Mutu and Antonio Candreva won't hold any fears for Napoli. They arrive with a fully fit squad, and will be bursting with confidence.

Our friends at Opta tell us that neither of these teams start their campaigns particularly well, but the fact that Napoli haven't won on the opening day since 1994 is overshadowed by Cesena NEVER having won their first fixture of a Serie A season, losing six of their eleven openers, and traditionally starting slowly.

Only AC Milan took more points away from home than Napoli last season, and I expect a similar pattern to start on Saturday night, with Napoli winning comfortably.

Best Bet: Back Napoli to win @ [2.26]

Lecce v Udinese

In the early part of the century, the Via del Mare in Lecce was the place to be to see attacking football. Back then, the former coach of Roma, Zdenek Zeman, brought his "Zemanlandia" style of play to the club, and with players like Mirko Vucinic and Valeri Bojinov given free rein, they finished tenth in Serie A, scoring 66 goals and conceding 73.

It was the first time in the history of the division that the team which had the worst Serie A defensive record had stayed up, let alone finished as high as tenth.

Zeman has always preached attacking football, and now one of his disciples, Eusebio Di Francesco, has taken over, we could be set for something similar. Di Francesco was in charge of Pescara in Serie B last season, and while we didn't see the full-throttled Zeman approach, there were certainly signs that Di Francesco wants to emulate the man who has had a big influence on him as a coach, and very simply win football matches by scoring more goals than the opposition.

Udinese are the visitors on Sunday, and, despite losing two of their best three players in Gokhan Inler and Alexis Sanchez, they'll still feel that they can challenge for a top-five place again. They were devastating away from home last season, and with Francesco Guidolin again committed to playing on the counter attack, they're likely to continue last season's pattern of being involved in high-scoring matches on the road, and stifling teams a little more at home.

Over 2.5 goals in Lecce v Udinese is available at [2.06], and that is a price not to miss. I'll certainly be getting involved in the over 3.5 and over 4.5 markets as well, as I think that it's worth getting Lecce on side early on, before the way that they play becomes apparent to the wider world: I fully expect overs in their matches to be trading at the [1.7] mark before too long, and the nature of their opposition on Sunday adds further fuel to the argument that anything odds against is simply too big.

A high-scoring thriller could be on the cards to once again make the Via Del Mare the place to be.

Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals @ [2.06]