Sampdoria vs Crotone
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It’s really hard to resist the Sampdoria handicap at these odds because they’re playing so damn well at the moment. I said last season that Giampaolo just needed some time with their squad before they became consistently impressive and they appear to have arrived at that destination, which I find incredibly ironic as they’ve sold three top players – Fernandes, Skirinar, Schick – pre-season.
What I like about Sampdoria is that they’re smart. Really smart. They model themselves on Juventus, in my opinion. They recognise that they’ll lose players so they sign perfectly capable replacements but spend less money than they earned, which is an art Juventus have perfected over the years. In Sampdoria’s case, they’ve signed experienced Uruguayan playmaker Gaston Ramirez to replace Bruno Fernandes, they’ve loaned ex-SSC Napoli forward Zapata to replace the power that Schick brought to their attack, and signed defender Ferrari to replace Skirinar. They’re clever signings because they’re all experienced at this level and that makes their integration into the Sampdoria squad even easier.
Giampaolo now has a settled squad with a little bit of everything. For brutality, there’s Silvestre at the back. For class, there’s Quagliarella up front. For creativity, there’s Ramirez. The list goes on. They work well together, keep the ball impressively, and don’t seem to struggle to break teams down. My sole concern with Sampdoria is that they’ve got too many nutters in their squad. Silvestre and Barreto can get sent off for stupid tackles in the blink of an eye, and that was what forced Sampdoria to surrender against Udinese lately. Aside from that, though, this team has momentum, quality, experience, and variety so I don’t see a good reason to doubt them winning in Genoa today.
Admittedly, Crotone did cause Sampdoria problems last season. Indeed, Sampdoria failed to beat them in both of their meetings. However, Sampdoria were inefficient last season, which is a stark contrast to how they look this season. Crotone are operating at about the same level so although I don’t doubt their ability to fight for points, I question whether they have enough quality to survive this particular encounter.
Crotone are unbeaten in three games now but when you see that they’ve faced SPAL, Benevento, and Torino (at home) during that time, that statistic suddenly doesn’t look so impressive. After last season’s heroic escape from relegation, Crotone are not going to turn their noses up at any points on offer, I’m sure. However, I’d like to think that they have something more in their lockers than energy for the forthcoming campaign because everybody knows what they’re about now. Unfortunately for Crotone, that seems to not be the case.
I honestly don’t know if Crotone have enough to survive this season. The only area of their team I like is their midfield. They’ve loaned Mandragora from Juventus, who looks an excellent signing, kept hold of Swedish midfielder Rohden, and have added experienced playmaker Izco to their ranks. With Barberis and Stoian in the balance, I do like the shape of their midfield. Up front, I see no replacement whatsoever for the departed Falcinelli, which should be a huge area of concern, and I don’t see enough organisation or experience at the back either. Therefore, although I don’t doubt their battling spirit, I cannot see how Crotone hope to contain in-form Sampdoria today.
My call is for Sampdoria to beat the -1 Asian Handicap.
Verdict: Sampdoria to beat the -1 Asian Handicap at 99/100.
No freebies today so good luck if you’re betting!
Saturday’s Thoughts
As ever, if there are any explanations required then please feel free to post a comment! For the remainder of my thoughts on today’s games, see below, although I feel compelled to write that the below are not necessarily my tips but merely my thoughts to prevent endless questions about my thoughts on certain games. For confidence ratings, you’ll need to go to the members section here.
Australian A-League:
Melbourne City vs Wellington Phoenix
Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers
Austrian Bundesliga:
Sturm Graz vs SV Mattersburg
SCR Altach vs Wolfsberger AC
St.Polten vs LASK Linz
Belgian Eerste Klasse:
Lokeren vs Sporting Charleroi
AS Eupen vs KV Mechelen
Sint-Truiden vs KV Oostende
Kortrijk vs AA Gent
Brazilian Serie A:
Vasco da Gama vs Coritiba
Bulgarian A PFG:
Levski Sofia vs CSKA Sofia
Lokomotiv Plovdiv vs Cherno More Varna
Croatian Prva Liga:
Cibalia Vinkovci vs Slaven Koprivnica
Hajduk Split vs Dinamo Zagreb
Czech Republic HET Liga:
Teplice vs Karvina
Baumit Jablonec vs Sparta Prague
Danish Superligaen:
Silkeborg vs SonderjyskE
English Premier League:
Chelsea vs Watford
Huddersfield Town vs Manchester United
Manchester City vs Burnley
Newcastle United vs Crystal Palace
Stoke City vs Bournemouth
Swansea City vs Leicester City
Southampton vs West Bromwich Albion
Estonian Meistriliiga:
Nomme Kalju vs Flora Paide
Sillamae Kalev vs FCI Tallinn
Levadia Tallinn vs Tulevik
Tammeka vs Vaprus
Faroese Meistaradeildin:
IF Fuglafjordur vs 07 Vestur Sorvagur
KI Klaksvik vs NSI Runavik
TB/FCS/Royn vs Skala
Vikingur Gotu vs EB/Streymur
HB Torshavn vs B36 Torshavn
Finnish Ykkonen:
AC Oulu vs Ekenas IF
Gnistan vs Jaro Pietarsaari
FC Honka Espoo vs TPS Turku
GRIFK vs Haka Valkeakoski
KPV Kokkola vs OPS Oulu
French Ligue 1:
AS Monaco vs Stade Malherbe de Caen
Amiens SC vs Girondins de Bordeaux
Angers SCO vs Toulouse
Metz vs Dijon FCO
Nantes Atlantique vs En Avant Guingamp
Stade Rennais vs Lille OSC
German Bundesliga:
RB Leipzig vs VfB Stuttgart
Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bv09 Borussia Dortmund
Augsburg vs Hannover 96
Hamburger SV vs Bayern Munich
Hungarian Liga 1:
Paksi SE vs Mezokovesd-Zsory
Ferencvaros vs Ujpest
Fehervar vs Puskas FC
Vasas Budapest vs Balmazujvaros Sport
Debreceni VSC vs Szombathelyi Haladas
Diosgyori VTK vs Budapest Honved
Israeli Ligat Ha’al:
Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv vs MS Ashdod
Hapoel Acre vs Hapoel Ra’anana
Maccabi Netanya vs Ironi Kiryat Shmona
Maccabi Haifa vs Beitar Jerusalem
Italian Serie A:
Sampdoria vs Crotone
SSC Napoli vs Internazionale
Dutch Eredivisie:
NAC Breda vs PEC Zwolle
Excelsior Rotterdam vs Sparta Rotterdam
VVV Venlo vs ADO Den Haag
Twente Enschede vs Roda JC Kerkrade
Norwegian Eliteserien:
Aalesund FK vs Kristiansund
Portuguese Liga Sagres:
Feirense vs Rio Ave
Vitoria Setubal vs Maritimo Funchal
FC Porto vs Pacos de Ferreira
Portuguese Segunda Liga:
Penafiel vs Sporting Clube de Portugal II
Sporting Braga II vs Sporting Covilha
Famalicao vs Academico Viseu
CD Nacional de Madeira vs Cova Piedade
UD Oliveirense vs Real
Leixoes Matosinhos vs Academica de Coimbra
Romanian Liga:
Juventus Bucharest vs Sepsi
Viitorul Constanta vs CFR Cluj
Russian Premier League:
SKA Khabarovsk vs FK Ufa
Tosno vs FK Rostov
Rubin Kazan’ vs Dinamo Moscow
Spartak Moscow vs Amkar Perm’
Spanish Primera Liga:
Levante vs Getafe
Real Betis Balompie vs Deportivo Alaves
Valencia CF vs Sevilla CF
Barcelona CF vs Malaga CF
Swedish Allsvenskan:
AFC Eskilstuna vs Elfsborg Boras
Swiss Super League:
FC Basel vs Thun
FC Zurich vs Grasshopper Zurich
Swiss Challenge League:
Chiasso vs FC Schaffhausen
Servette vs Rapperswil-Jona
Turkish Super Lig:
Osmanlispor vs Karabukspor
Akhisar Belediye vs Genclerbirligi
Yeni Malatyaspor vs Trabzonspor
Enjoy your free betting tips!