European Football Acca: Home favourites treble worth backing
Published:The big European football leagues return after their continental winter breaks, and Juventus, Barcelona and Napoli are all in action on home soil.
A treble backing the three hosts to dispatch their visiting opponents is a rather short 173/100 bet, but looks set to pay dividends on Sunday.
Juventus to beat Sampdoria @ 2/9
Serie A leaders Juventus host 15th place Sampdoria at the Juventus Stadium on the back of six straight victories in all competitions before the Italian’s broke for winter.
The Old Lady conceded just once from those six games, and have lost just one home game all season – a shock 3-1 defeat to Inter Milan that ended their domestic 49-game unbeaten run.
But Antonio Conte’s side have not let that loss loosen their stranglehold at the top of the table, currently presiding over an eight point lead from closest challengers Lazio.
Sampdoria have won just two away games from nine in the league this campaign, and have made a habit out of losing matches, with 10 of their last 13 ending in defeat.
Barcelona to beat Espanyol @ 1/11
Barcelona have been as dominant in Spain this season as Juventus in Italy, with Tito Villanova’s side enjoying a nine-point lead at the top of La Liga over Christmas.
Barca are yet to lose in the league this campaign, dropping just two points, conceded during the 2-2 draw with Real Madrid back in October.
Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi ended the year with 91 goals for club and country – with the Barcelona striking sensation breaking Gerd Muller’s annual goals record in the process.
With Messi firing and the Catalan club looking more assured in defence under Pep Guardiola’s replacement Villanova, travelling Espanyol are unlikely to get anything out of this game at the Nou Camp to help their fight against relegation.
Napoli to beat Roma @ 21/20
Fifth place Napoli host Roma, who are currently sixth in Serie A, and the two clubs have just two points separating them in the division.
A mouth-watering match is in prospect between these Champions League chasing sides at Stadio San Paolo, as both clubs went into the winter break pointing in different directions.
Napoli had lost four from five in all competitions before the festive period gave them a well needed break, while Roma’s run of seven wins from eight was halted by the Christmas rest.
However, last time out Napoli won 2-0 away at Siena and with goal-machine Edinson Cavani fit it’s worth backing the home side to rediscover their form against a Roma team who have lost four times on the road this term.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
