Monday 9 January predictions: Serie A rounds up with Verona-Cremonese and Bologna-Atalanta, La Liga and the FA Cup are also on the line
The 17th Serie A fixture closes with two Monday postponements. Starting at 18:30 with Verona-Cremonese, which despite the fact that the first half of the season is not yet over, looks like a salvation play-off where the points at stake are worth double.
The grigiorossi are still without victories in this championship, Hellas will try to stop the series of 11 games without success to leave the last place in the standings. It will be a very tense match, easy to imagine a high number of yellow cards.
At 20:45 it will be Bologna and Atalanta: the team coached by Gasperini has been winless in its last four Serie A matches, but will face a team without its top scorer Arnautovic, who has already scored eight goals but is out with an injury.
Liga predictions
The La Liga postponement pits two nice surprises of the first leg against each other, currently positioned close to the Champions League zone: Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna. However, the recovery after the World Cup break was not particularly brilliant for Osasuna, who were beaten 2-0 by Real Sociedad and at risk of elimination in the Copa del Rey against a Segunda B team, Gimnastic de Tarragona. Basque favourites for success.
For those on the hunt for goals, the advice is to look to the Turkish league, where the scoring average is quite high this season: watch out in particular for Istanbul Basaksehir-Adana Demirspor and Alanyaspor-Trabzonspor.
Betting: the Seer’s Choice
- Atalanta to win or draw and at least two goals overall in Bologna-Atalanta, Serie A, 21:00
Winners
- Verona or draw (in Verona v Cremonese, Serie A, 18:30)
- Athletic Bilbao (in Athletic Bilbao-Osasuna, La Liga, 21:00)
- Arsenal (in Oxford Utd-Arsenal, FA Cup, 9pm)
The matches with at least three goals in total
- Istanbul Basaksehir-Adana Demirspor, Super Lig, 3pm
- Alanyaspor-Trabzonspor, Super Lig, 6pm
- Oxford Utd-Arsenal, FA Cup, 21:00
The matches with at least one goal per team
- Istanbulspor-Gaziantep, Super Lig, 6pm
- AL Shabab-Al-Ittihad Jeddah, Saudi Pro League, 7.15pm
- Jong Utrecht-Jong AZ Alkmaar, Eerste Divisie, 20:00
The sensational
Atalanta winning and at least one goal per team (in Bologna-Atalanta, Serie A, 21:00)
