Serie A Betting Odds, Soccer Picks & Predictions for Matchday 12: Lecce vs. Juventus & Empoli vs. Atalanta

The Serie A season is heading into Matchday 12! Find the Serie A betting picks and predictions OddsJam’s soccer expert @NorthSideCapper is locking in this weekend.

Serie A Matchday 12 Picks & Predictions

Lecce vs. Juventus Pick: Juventus Moneyline | -120 on BetRivers

Saturday, October 29 | 12:00 p.m. ET

In what world is it safe to back this Juventus side at the moment? Apparently only ours, because that is exactly what we will be doing Saturday afternoon.

For all the documented struggles Juventus have faced so early on this campaign – most recently their dismissal from Europe’s prized Champions League competition, they have slowly shown some signs of life domestically, winning three of their last five.

Juventus hit the road and will face off with Lecce at the Stadio Via Del Mare in an attempt to continue their momentum and help climb the Serie A table. Sitting in eighth place with 19 points, the Turin club entered this important fixture off a crushing 4-3 defeat in Lisbon to Portuguese giants Benfica.

While the result is not what the club had hoped for, we must take some positives out of that, as they scored three goals against one of Europe’s most dominant sides so far this season and one that has not conceded a ton of goals to their opponents. Prior to that, Juventus had claimed back-to-back victories over Italian clubs Empoli (4-0) and Torino (1-0), so it’s safe to say the scoring boots are slowly returning.

While we’re expecting a Juventus win, it won’t be easy. Lecce are no pushovers and we have seen that in recent matches. While the club isn’t producing many wins, they are certainly making it difficult for their opponents. Winners of only one of their last 10 matches probably doesn’t inspire much confidence, but they’ve only lost four of those – three of which were by a single goal claiming points off Napoli and Fiorentina (both 1-1 draws).

Desperation has already begun to creep in the Juventus locker room, and with manager Massimilano Allegri feeling the heat, he will breathe a sigh of relief to see his forwards slowly rounding into form. The head-to-head matchups have been tight historically, but the talent is far superior in this Juventus side – even if they have not lived up to it early on and we believe they continue to improve on their recent performances collecting a massive win today.

Empoli vs. Atalanta Pick: Atalanta Moneyline | -129 on BetRivers

Sunday, October 30 | 7:30 a.m. ET

Twelfth place Empoli welcome Italian powerhouse Atalanta to the Stadio Carlo Castellani in what should be an interesting match.

Off the back of a 4-0 beat down to Juventus, Empoli will look to tighten up their defensive backline which has proven tough to crack for opponents in recent weeks. Conceding 10 goals in the nine matches prior to the Juventus match last time out doesn’t sound impressive, but within those nine matches they have collected three clean sheets.

They’ve conceded five of those nine in two matches again AC Milan and Roma – two Italian giants who generally do not have a hard time putting up crooked numbers against the ‘smaller’ clubs in the Serie A. Unfortunately for them, Atalanta fits the description of an Italian giant who is capable of putting up crooked numbers when firing on all cylinders.

Atalanta have begun the comeback tour. After a disappointing season in 2021-22, they have started the season off with seven wins from the first 11 matches. Unfortunately for them, Napoli have been the hottest club in Europe, creating a five point gap between themselves and Atalanta, who are a mere two points behind second placed AC Milan.

Atalanta will look to get back to winning ways after a 2-0 defeat last time out on the road against Lazio. Prior to that, they had collected three wins from their last four matches while remaining clutch in front of goal. Their 2-0 defeat to Lazio was the first time this season a team had kept them off the scoresheet, and we don’t anticipate that being a common occurrence – certainly not today vs. Empoli.

While we can acknowledge Empoli will not be an easy team to defeat, given the form of Atalanta and their ability to control a match, we fully expect them to bounce back from their defeat last time out in an effort to ensure they do not fall too much further behind in the Serie A title race. It may not be a comfortable victory, but Atalanta should walk away with the three points this morning.