Serie A Tips: Napoli to keep the heat turned up | OneFootball

Italian Serie A

Antonio Conte's Napoli are pushing for the Scudetto

The Serie A season is heating up at the top and the bottom of the table, and Kevin Hatchard expects goals galore.

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Monza v Napoli - Conte's men still in the hunt

Saturday 19 April, 17:00

Napoli boss Antonio Conte has joked that Italian media should thank him and his players for keeping the Serie A title race alive, but beneath that tongue-in-cheek comment is an admission that the Partenopei are pushing champions Inter hard in the race for the Scudetto. Conte has played down his team's chances for much of the season, but with Napoli just three points off top spot with six matchdays left, the title is a realistic possibility.

A run of three wins and two draws has got Napoli back into contention, after they had a five-match run without a victory. Last weekend's 3-0 win over Empoli, which featured a fantastic goal from Scott McTominay, was Napoli's biggest league win since a 3-0 victory against Fiorentina in the first week of January.

Now another opportunity presents itself, as Napoli visit rock-bottom Monza. The hosts have collected just 15 points this season, and they are a further 11 from safety. They have lost 15 of their last 18 league matches, and seven of those 15 defeats were by a margin of two goals or more.

We can back Napoli -1.5 on the Asian Handicap at 1.9, and I think that's a generous price. Yes, Napoli haven't won on the road since mid-January, but that five-match winless streak included trips to face Lazio, Roma and Bologna. This should be a much more straightforward affair against doomed and demoralised opponents.

Bologna v Inter - Italiano's men can breach the champions

Sunday 20 April, 17:00

Inter took a huge step forward in their Champions League campaign on Wednesday, as they battled to a 2-2 draw and a 4-3 aggregate win against German giants Bayern Munich. As is so often the way, skipper Lautaro Martinez led from the front, netting his 150th goal for the club.

Now the Nerazzurri face an enormous test as they look to retain their league title. Vincenzo Italiano's Bologna are on the cusp of reaching the Coppa Italia final, and in Serie A they have stormed to within two points of the Champions League places.

Bologna were strangely anaemic in their 2-0 loss at Atalanta last weekend, but they have scored in 17 of their last 20 league matches, and at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara they have netted 22 goals in the last nine top-flight outings. A BTTS bet has landed in seven of those nine matches.

Inter have seen both teams find the net in nine of their last 11 competitive matches, and if you look at their Serie A away games, they have kept a clean sheet just once in the last six attempts.

I'm happy to go for BTTS here at 1.92.

Parma v Juventus - Both teams can find the net in vital clash

Monday 21 April, 19:45

We are at that point in the season where scrabbling around for draws will no longer cut it, and wins are needed to achieve the primary goal. Parma find themselves just four points above the bottom three, while Juventus are in an almighty scrap for Champions League qualification.

Parma held the champions Inter to a 2-2 draw recently at the Ennio Tardini, and they have drawn their last five Serie A matches, but they are by no means safe from the drop. Christian Chivu's men are capable in attack - their tally of 37 goals is the best in Serie A's bottom seven.

The Gialloblu deserve plenty of credit when you consider they were in Serie B last term. While they have won just five games, they have managed to eke out a staggering 13 draws, with this weekend's opponents Juventus the only team with more in the league this season.

Juventus have had a spike in form since parting company with coach Thiago Motta, with his replacement Igor Tudor delivering seven points from three matches. Juve have scored in all three of those games, and Turkish tyro Kenan Yildiz seems to have been given the lift he needed, as he is part of a three-man attacking unit with Teun Koopmeiners and Dusan Vlahovic.

I think Both Teams To Score is available at a good price here at 1.86. It has paid out in 13 of Parma's 16 home games in the league this term, and Juventus arrive in Emilia-Romagna needing to chase a win, as they are being hunted in the race for UCL spots by Bologna, Lazio and Roma.

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