Italy Serie A : Chievo vs Juventus Match Preview

Serie A leaders Juventus travel to Verona this afternoon in a bid to win three more points and maintain the pressure on title rivals AC Milan.

Antonio Conte’s side go into the match as favourites, with the best price available on a Juventus win the 11/10 with Paddy Power and bet365. A stalemate could hand the league lead over to Udinese, and can be backed at 9/4 with Ladbrokes. Chievo are currently mid-table, but they are 16/5 with William Hill to delight their fans with a home win.

Given Napoli’s unexpected 2-1 defeat against Parma last night, Juventus will be keen to make inroads at the top of the table against their closest Serie A rivals. Former player David Trezeguet this week commented how his former team-mate Conte is doing a brilliant job, and this could well be the first Juventus side to win the Scudetto since 2003.

Chievo are unbeaten in their last three matches against Juventus, but they will face a rejuvenated side this afternoon at the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. Punters should also bear in mind that Domenico Di Carlo’s side have only lost one of their previous seven matches at home, and even so that was against Udinese.

In the correct score betting, a 1-0 win for Juventus is the favoured outcome at 11/2 with Irish bookie Paddy Power. A 1-1 draw is also a runner at 6/1 with William Hill, but Juventus fans may be keener about backing a 2-0 away win at 9/1 with Coral. 2-1 to Juventus is at 8/1 with Boylesports, and Chievo’s best chance of a win is 1-0, which is a 9/1 shot with bet365, who will refund losing correct score bets if the match finishes 0-0.

Chievo coach Domenico Di Carlo is expected to go with the same starting XI that drew 0-0 with Cesena in their last fixture before the international break after the players who represented their countries - Alberto Paloschi (Italy Under-21), Bojan Jokic and Bostjan Cesar (both Slovenia), Kamil Vacek (Czech Republic), Rinaldo Cruzado (Peru) and Michael Bradley (USA) - were all given a clean bill of health.

The Verona-based side's only doubt is veteran Brazilian midfielder Luciano, who is still struggling with an injury to his right thigh muscle

Arsenal vs Sunderland Match Preview (England Premier League)

Arsenal and Sunderland will both be looking to improve poor starts to the season when they go head to head at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal have won only twice in their first seven games, while Sunderland have tasted victory only once this season.

Bacary Sagna is ruled out for Arsenal, while the Gunners will be boosted by the return from injury of Tomas Rosicky, Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny.

Phil Bardsley is suspended for Sunderland, while on-loan striker Nicklas Bendtner is ineligible to play against his parent club. Attacking midfielder Seb Larsson is fit for Sunderland and will relish the prospect of playing against his former employers.

Sunday October 16th

Arsenal v Sunderland

Emirates Stadium

Kick-off: 13.30 BST

TV: Sky Sport 1, Highlights BBC2 Match of the Day2.

Arsenal (Probable, 4-3-3): Szeczeny; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Andre Santos; Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott; Gervinho, Van Persie, Arshavin.

Out: Sagna (broken leg), Diaby, Wilshere (both ankle), Vermaelen (Achilles).

Test: Rosicky (groin), Koscielny (ankle), Djourou (hamstring).

Sunderland (Probable, 4-5-1): Mignolet; Elmohamady, O'Shea, Brown, Richardson; Wickham, Gardner, Colback, Vaughan, Larsson; Sessegnon.

Out: Bendtner (ineligible), Gordon, Campbell (both knee).

Suspended: Bardsley, Bramble (club ban).

Referee: Howard Webb (Matches 5, R3 Y25).

Ladies and Gentlemen: the Premier League is back. After what feels like ages away, Arsenal welcome Sunderland to the Emirates tomorrow in a match between the 15th and 16th place teams in the league. While every match is just as important as the next in the league, a win tomorrow to kickstart a run of form would be most welcome for Arsenal, who only have seven points from seven matches this year. That fact, by the way, makes my left lung feel a little bit like it's trying to eat my spleen.