Serie A Betting: Fiorentina to fire us to a winning first weekend

Fiorentina's Vicenzo Montella is a top coach

The Serie A season kicks off this weekend with a host of late kick-offs across Saturday and Sunday. Dave Farrar begins another campaign of winner hunting with a look at three of this weekend's best games

Fiorentina v Udinese

Fiorentina start a new chapter in their purple tinged history on Sunday when they welcome last season's third-placed team to the Artemio Franchi. La Viola have hired Vincenzo Montella as their coach and for my money they have the best young manager in the country. Montella did a brilliant job with Catania, and despite a seemingly modest mid-table finish, he struck me as a coach whose talent would really start to shine through when he was able to work with a higher calibre of player. The signings that Fiorentina have made this summer allow him to do that, and I think that his team will play attractive passing football, and will certainly be a side to follow in the over/under 2.5 goals markets. I'll leave that alone this weekend, as Udinese away from home tend to play pretty negatively and two won't be tango-ing in the manner that you often need for an "overs" bet to prove successful, but I have no problem at all in supporting Montella's team to get off to a winning start. They're trading at 2.166/5 for the win and given Udinese's involvement in two crucial Champions League qualifiers either side of this game, that looks a tempting price.

Recommended Bet
 Back Fiorentina to beat Udinese @ 2.166/5

Pescara v Inter

Pescara's promotion back to Serie A was wonderful to watch and there'll be great anticipation in Abruzzo ahead of what is not just a Serie A return, but a chance to welcome one of the division's biggest clubs. Zdenek Zeman has left Pescara and so it's tempting to think that his attacking philosophy has gone with him, but the new manager Giovanni Stroppa has vowed to keep it going, and while he won't be playing six strikers as Zeman has done in the past, it's fairly safe to say that Pescara will have a go at Inter. The relatively new Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni has taken charge of nine Serie A matches since he replaced Claudio Ranieri and only one of those games, a 0-0 draw in Florence, failed to produce over 2.5 goals. The remaining eight matches provided 37, an average of 4.6 per match. There may have been an element of end of season devil may care about those performances, but Stramaccioni's philosophy is to be positive, and that makes for a meeting of minds at the Stadio Adriatico, one that looks set to give us a rousing start to Pescara's new life, and plenty of goals. And a point about Pescara's former coach, Zdenek Zeman. His reputation as the most gung ho tactician in European football clearly goes before him these days, and gone are the times when those "in the know" had too much edge. I still feel, though, ludicrous though it may sound, that there's a bit of value to be had in taking the 1.75/7 available on their being over 2.5 goals in Roma's game with Catania this weekend. Zeman will want to make a statement, and Catania will more than likely join in the fun.

Recommended Bets
 Over 2.5 Goals in Pescara v Inter @ 1.910/11
 Over 3.5 Goals in Pescara v Inter @ 3.39/4
 Over 3.5 Goals Double Pescara v Inter & Roma v Catania

Milan v Sampdoria

There's an opening day trend in Serie A which states that odds-on favourites have a better than usual chance of being turned over: in the last four opening day rounds of matches, 22 teams trading at less than even money have failed to oblige. Afternoon kick-offs would have had something to do with that historically, with the searing Italian late summer heat having a major influence on results. Now that the authorities have seen sense and moved to evening kick-offs in the early part of the season, though, the potential for shocks may be more limited, but it's still worth looking for a short priced upset. Milan are currently trading at 1.491/2 against newly promoted Sampdoria, and I think that there's reason to take on the Rossoneri. Max Allegri has lost his three best players over the summer, and the replacements are barely adequate. If you add to that the departures of Alessandro Nesta and Clarence Seedorf, and injuries to Ignazio Abate, Massimo Ambrosini and Pato, then you can see the extent of Allegri's problems this weekend. Sampdoria coach Ciro Ferrara may not be the new Arrigo Sacchi, but has a well organised team which contains good forward options in the shape of Eder and the ex-Milan man Maxi Lopez. The last three games at San Siro between these teams have all ended 3-0 in Milan's favour, but the home team look a lot more vulnerable now, and I think that that the shock could be on the cards. I'd lay Milan at 1.491/2 and support Sampdoria to get a surprise win at the ridiculous price of 9.08/1. I'd make them about half that price, and so Ferrara's team must be supported.

Recommended Bets
 Lay Milan against Sampdoria @ 1.491/2
 Back Sampdoria v Milan @ 9.08/1