Preview
Sambenedettese and Latina meet at the Sambenedettese ground on 11 October in Serie C Girone B, and if you've been digging into the numbers, the visitors have got the edge here. No head-to-head record exists between these two, so we're working purely on current form and venue records.
Sambenedettese's home record over the last 20 games is rough: 2 wins, 6 draws and 12 losses, picking up just 0.6 points per game. They've scored 0.65 a game at home and conceded 1.5. That's a side that struggles to find the net and leaks goals like a bucket with a hole in it. Their last five matches tell a similar story — one win, one draw and three losses, with 8 goals scored and 9 conceded. The bright spot is that 3–1 away win at Grosseto on 3 October, their only win in the last five, but before that they were losing at home to Campobasso FC 1–2 and Atalanta II 2–3. The current run is just that one win, and it's not enough to shake off the home struggles.
Latina travel with a much healthier away record: 4 wins, 7 draws and 9 losses in 20 away games, earning 0.95 points per game. They score 1.15 a game on the road and concede 1.45. Their last five matches show one win, two draws and two losses, with 7 goals scored and 7 conceded. That 4–1 away win at Grosseto on 9 September in the Coppa Italia showed they can punch above their weight on the road, though the 0–1 loss at Reggiana on 20 September and the 1–3 defeat at Gubbio on 12 September show they're not without their struggles either.
Looking at the last 10 games across all venues, Latina sit comfortably ahead: 3 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses for 1.3 points per game, compared to Sambenedettese's 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses for 0.9. Latina score 1.6 a game and concede 1.3, while Sambenedettese score 1.4 and concede 1.6. The gap in points per game and the scoring difference both point the same way. The home side's record at this ground is poor, and the away side's record on the road is clearly the stronger of the two.
The counter-argument is that Sambenedettese just won their last game, 3–1 at Grosseto, and they've kept clean sheets in 4 of their last 20 home games. Both teams are in patchy form — neither is flying. The 1–1 home draw with Ostia Mare on 4 October shows Latina can be flat, and their away form has included some heavy defeats. But on balance, the numbers favour the visitors, and the market's slight lean towards the home side at 2.48 (40.32% implied) doesn't match what the venue records are telling us.
Key Points:
- Sambenedettese's home record: 2W 6D 12L in 20 games, 0.6 points per game
- Latina's away record: 4W 7D 9L in 20 games, 0.95 points per game
- Latest 10 all venues: Latina 1.3 ppg vs Sambenedettese 0.9 ppg
- No head-to-head meetings on record between the two sides
- Both teams in mixed recent form, but the venue records clearly favour Latina
My pick: away win for Latina at 2.85. The numbers don't lie — the visitors have the better record in this specific configuration, and the home side's struggles at this ground are hard to ignore. Braai's on me if they pull it off.
