Serie A: Who’s Cristiano Ronaldo?

Torino vs AS Roma

Serie A comes to Turin on Sunday in a clash of two of Italy’s biggest teams and there will be little or no mention of ‘you know who’!

Much of the Serie A 2018 news has been, understandably, dominated by the arrival of Ronaldo in Turin, but there’s another team in this historic city which couldn’t really care less. Torino has its own heroes, and when Walter Mazzarri’s team welcomes Roma to the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino they will be backed by a passionate Il Toro crowd.

Eusebio Di Francesco’s Roma is a quality outfit, comfortably making the Champions League while Torino was a number of teams chasing Europa League qualification last season, but fell short finishing ninth. But the Romans face a stiff test in this opener and will need to be near their best to come away with all three points.

Talking Points

Serie A 2018 betting tips will feature Roma heavily, third favourites at 7.00 to win the Scudetto and they do have a realistic outside chance.

Andrea Belotti hope Torino will kick-off their Serie A campaign with victory over Roma — Torino’s Andrea Belotti celebrates scoring their first goal vs Liverpool in a friendly

Much depends on the leadership qualities of their senior players. Aleksandar Kolarov is a colossus in defence and also provides an attacking threat with a wicked cross and dangerous dead ball skills. The Serbia national captain scored the only goal in this fixture last year he’s a towering force for Roma.

Then we have Edin Dzeko. Top scorer in Serie A in 2017, he also became the first player to score 50 goals in three major European Leagues, having done so also at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, before joining Manchester City where he teamed up with Kolarov in the Sky Blues title winning team. At 6 ft 4 he’s a constant threat in the air but has quick feet for a big man and could be one to watch again this year.

Dzeko is surrounded by attacking talent. Stephan El Shaarawy was on target in a very impressive 4-2 ICC Cup victory over Barcelona where Roma showed their explosive potential with three goals in eight minutes to blow away the La Liga Champions.

And Roma fans are excited by the arrival of Justin Kluivert in a £15m move from Ajax as the young striker aims to emulate his dad Patrick. If he’s half the player he’ll do alright.

But the big question in Rome is how well the Champions League hopefuls will cope after the transfer of Radja Nainggolan to Inter Milan? The arrival of £24m Steven N’Zonzi from Sevilla is a good signing, as is the capture of £22m Javier Pastore from PSG. Nainggolan’s energy and combative style will be a miss but these two recruits have added quality to the middle of the park.

Torino has no illusions of grandeur this season and will be in the chasing pack again, at long odds of 101.00 to win the title. But they have enough talent and endeavour to spring the odd surprise. Skipper Andrea Belotti is the striking force and was on target twice as Torino opened its campaign with a convincing 4-0 Coppa win over Cosenza.

Alongside Belotti we cold well see M’Baye Niang. The Senegalese striker scored against Poland in the World Cup 2018 and has a never say die attitude. These two together will be a handful for many a defence.

Mazzarri has also strengthened his midfield with the arrival of Soualiho Meite from Monaco for a cool £9m, and he has shored up his defence with Mineiro’s Gleison Bremer and a £7m swoop for Genoa’s Armando Izzo.

If the home crowd finds its voice then these players will respond, and Roma had better beware.

History

Both these teams have a rich heritage, Roma having won the Scudetto three times and the Coppa Italia on nine occasions. Torino fans have enjoyed seven league titles and five Coppas, but the club has experienced great tragedy as the Superga air disaster wiped out the best team in their history.

The 1949 air crash claimed the lives of a multi-title winning team, one of the most admired in the world at the time.

Torino has had a good pre-season with six wins in seven, while Roma has been a little less consistent with one on four; so our SBOBET tips won’t tell you this is a sure fire victory for Eusebio Di Francesco’s title chasers.

None of the last five games has resulted in a draw with two wins for Torino and three for Roma but the overall top-flight head-to-head leans heavily towards Rome as the Giallorossi has won 20 of 33 meetings with nine drawn and just four successes for the hosts.

But Roma hasn’t always been convincing on the road and has managed just one win in their last five visits to the Stadio Olimpico in Turin.

Betting Tip

	Torino vs AS Roma	Total Goal 2-3 @ 1.94
	August 20, 00:00 (GMT+8)

This is a fascinating Serie A opener and one which could go either way; and while both teams have the firepower to hurt their opponent, I think they will attack with caution. A draw wouldn’t be a bad result for either, and I can see a 1-1.

For an alternative Torino is at 1.82 with a +0.50 start, and with Roma’s travel sickness that could work, as could a first half draw at 2.13.