Salernitana vs Spezia prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2022-10-21 13:00.
Salernitana boss Davide Nicola may have called Inter Milan “the best team in Italy” before losing 2-0 to them in Serie A (SA) last weekend, but that assessment did not detract from the pressure building on him ahead of the weekend. Three losses from the last four matches (W1) leaves a question mark hanging over Nicola’s head, although with an improved ten-game points tally compared to last season (ten vs seven), a mid-table berth at least gives Salernitana breathing space.
A win could potentially propel them into the top-half and transform the mood in the camp, but on the other hand, defeat against a Spezia side just a point worse off could see Salernitana plummet down the table. Playing on familiar turf perhaps boosts their chances of victory a little, as their recent four-game SA home form (W2, D1, L1), in which they have averaged 2.25 goals scored per game, shows that points are certainly attainable at home.
Spezia halted a two-game losing run with a 2-2 draw against Cremonese last weekend in what was a match-up of SA’s most generous defences. After a clean sheet to start their league campaign in a 1-0 win against Empoli, Spezia have failed to build upon that, conceding an average of 2.11 goals per game in nine SA matches hence, a prime reason for their underwhelming performances during that leaky run (W1, D3, L5).
The forward line certainly isn’t blameless either, failing to score in five of their last nine league games, though the fact they have strangely netted exactly twice in the remaining four games shows they are capable of finding the target. It does get worse on the road for Spezia though who have lost their last five away SA games ‘to nil’ and now stand on the verge of equalling a long-standing unwanted record held by Napoli from 1939/40, who lost the first six away top-flight games of a campaign without scoring.
Players to watch: Salernitana’s Krzysztof Piątek has seen his last two SA goals arrive before half-time, like his only career strike against Spezia which came in a 2-1 win. Could Emmanuel Gyasi be the man to end Spezia’s SA away goal drought? If he does it may be a late goal, as his last three club goals have peculiarly arrived in either first or second half stoppage-time.
Hot stat: Spezia have conceded the joint-most SA goals in the first 15 minutes (five) this season.