Leaders and red-hot Napoli will be aiming to continue their relentless march towards the Serie A title today, Friday (February 17), when they travel to Sassuolo to kick off the weekend’s proceedings, then on Saturday, surprise side Newcastle are aiming to maintain their top-four position when they host Liverpool at home in a must-win game for both teams.

Event # 1 – ITA – Sassuolo vs Napoli – 2:45 pm

Having previously thrashed champions AC Milan 5-2 in an extraordinary game at the San Siro and pulling off the improbable upset against Atalanta in a 1-0 win, Sassuolo have continued their resurgence in recent weeks, which has seen them open up some daylight between themselves and the drop zone. They enter this match on the back of a 2-2 away draw with Udinese last weekend, which was their fourth-consecutive match without defeat, having two wins and two draws during this run and should be confident of getting a result against Serie A’s best side, Napoli. But, Sassuolo haven’t beaten Napoli since 2020 and might find it difficult to even take a point from this encounter based on Napoli’s form.

If Napoli are getting nervous, they certainly aren’t showing it as they continued on their merry march towards a first Serie A title since 1990 when they comfortably strolled to an easy 3-0 win over basement side Cremonese at the weekend. The runaway league leaders have won six straight league matches and, having already dismantled Sassuolo 4-0 earlier this season, the Serie A champions-elect should put in another strong display and extend their lead atop the standing to 18 points. Worryingly for Sassuolo is the fact that Napoli have been scoring at will, with 15 goals scored in their last five matches, they now boast a record of 19 wins and just one defeat, to have the best record in Europe’s top five leagues at this stage of the season.

KEY STATS

• Sassuolo – have won only one home match against Napoli in Serie A: 2-1 on August 23, 2015 (D5 L3). In addition, five of the last six matches between the two sides at the MAPEI Stadium have ended level. Encouragingly, Sassuolo are unbeaten in their last four league games (W2 D2), last going longer without defeat in Serie A in March 2022 (six in that case).

• Napoli – have lost just one of their last 14 games against Sassuolo in Serie A (W7 D6), with that defeat coming in November 2020. Interestingly, Napoli have scored the most sub goals in Serie A this season (12), and only Cremonese and Verona (both eight) have conceded more such goals than Sassuolo (seven).

• Both sides – among the teams they have faced at least three times in Serie A, only against Roma (one) have Sassuolo won fewer games than against Napoli: two wins in 19 matches (D7 L10).

The betting tip. Napoli win.

Event # 2 EPL – Newcastle vs Liverpool – 12:30 pm

The big game in the Premier League this weekend sees Newcastle looking to maintain their push for a Champions League spot when they host Liverpool in a must win match for both sides if they are to have any chance of a top-four finish. Indeed, Newcastle’s position in the top four looked comfortable just a few weeks ago, but the fans are now sweating as their advantage has been cut to just two points, with Tottenham having the opportunity to leapfrog them if they lose to Liverpool and Tottenham win their game. Worryingly for Newcastle is their poor record against Liverpool as they are winless in their previous 12 matches against the Reds, with their last victory a 2-0 home win, way back in 2015. Newcastle have been difficult to beat this season but scoring goals have also been difficult for them too as they have drawn more matches than they have won so far (11). Remarkably, they have suffered fewer defeats (1) than any other team in the Premier League this season.

On the other side, Liverpool will aim to build on their timely Merseyside derby win over a hapless Everton on Monday, as they posted a long-awaited first league win of 2023. With that win, Liverpool remain mired in mid-table obscurity in ninth place, but with games in hand on two teams above them, Fulham, and Brentford, who they could overtake if results go their way. Having struggled for wins in 2023, Liverpool can take solace from the fact that they have been unbeaten on their last five trips to Newcastle. With that said, the pressure is mounting on Newcastle to return to winning ways against a side they haven’t beaten since 2015, while Liverpool’s recent win over Everton might spur them on to maintain their dominance in this matchup.

KEY STATS

• Newcastle – are winless in their last 12 Premier League meetings with Liverpool (D4 L8) since a 2-0 home win in December 2015. However, Since losing 2-1 to Liverpool in August, Newcastle are unbeaten in their last 17 Premier League games, their joint-longest run without defeat in their league history (also 17 in 2009-10 in the Championship). They’ve also not conceded more than once in any of these 17 games — only once have they had a longer run without conceding at least twice in their league history (18 between November-March in 2003-04).

• Liverpool – are unbeaten in five away league games against Newcastle (W3 D2) — they’ve never gone six without defeat at St James’ Park in their league history. With that said, Liverpool’s last three away league games have seen them lose 3-1 to Brentford, 3-0 to Brighton and 3-0 to Wolves. The Reds’ haven’t conceded 3+ goals in four consecutive away league games since September 1954.

• Both sides – Liverpool have come from behind to beat Newcastle 10 times in the Premier League, including a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture this season. No side has done so more often against a single opponent in Premier League history (Man Utd also 10 vs both Newcastle and Southampton).

The betting tip. Draw.

JUSTBET ODDS – Sassuolo vs Napoli

Friday, February 17, 2023

PredictionOdds on PredictionOdds Calculation

SASSUOLO TO WIN$5.50which means a $1000 bet would pay $5,500

NAPOLI TO WIN$1.55which means a $1000 bet would pay $1,550

MATCH TO DRAW$4.25which means a $1000 bet would pay $4,250

Odds on the Home Team (Sassuolo) winning the game 2-1 at full time$17.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $17,000

Odds on the Away Team (Napoli) winning the game 1-3 at full time$12.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $12,000

Odds on the game drawing 1-1 at full time$7.75which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $7,750.

JUSTBET ODDS – Newcastle vs Liverpool

Saturday, February 18, 2023

PredictionOdds on PredictionOdds Calculation

NEWCASTLE TO WIN$2.45which means a $1000 bet would pay $2,450

LIVERPOOL TO WIN$2.71which means a $1000 bet would pay $2,710

MATCH TO DRAW$3.50which means a $1000 bet would pay $3,500

Odds on the Home Team (N/Castle) winning the game 2-0 at full time$13.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $13,000

Odds on the Away Team (L/Pool) winning the game 1-2 at full time$10.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $10,000

Odds on the game drawing 0-0 at full time$13.00which means that a $1,000 bet would pay $13,000.