Soccer predictions, best bets today: Betting tips, expert picks for games on Monday, October 31

The slate of matches on Halloween is as thin as your neighbor’s annoying oversized skeleton lurking in the front yard. But we’ll settle for the bite-size betting offerings just as well.

There is a doubleheader from Italy’s Serie A, and three of the four teams are in the relegation mix. Monza vs. Bologna should be an emotional time given the stabbing of Monza defender Pablo Mari earlier in the week. In the other match, Jose Mourinho and AS Roma are hoping for all three road points in Verona, but it won’t be easy.

Relegation is also the theme in Spain. Bottom club Elche is hosting fellow relegation candidate Getafe in what feels like a must-win for both teams to keep up hope of survival.

The two matches in Turkey’s Super Lig feature the country’s two Conference League teams in Sivasspor and Istanbul Basaksehir. They’re both hosting teams in the bottom five places: Antalyaspor and Giresunspor, respectively.

With four matches remaining in Brazil’s Serie A, there’s a fascinating battle between Ceara and Fluminense. Host Ceara is aiming for survival in the first division and avoiding the bottom four relegation places, while Fluminense are trying to avoid the Copa Libertadores qualifiers and qualify directly for the tournament group stage.

The Sporting News soccer betting guide

Elche vs. Getafe prediction, best bet

• Best Bet: Elche over 3 yellow cards
• Odds: +120 (Caesars)
• Prediction (Win/Draw): Draw

They say you should never bet two bad teams, but our slate is limited today, so let’s get weird. Instead of trying to figure out how this match will play out, let’s jump on an opportunity to place a discipline bet. Elche are the third-worst team in the Spanish top flight when it comes to discipline, picking up 3.6 yellows per game. You look at some of their recent matches, and they’re absolute yellow card fests. Getafe can draw yellows too, and then add in that assigned referee Cesar Soto Grado has handed out the most yellows per game in La Liga so far (7.17 per match), thanks in part to his last outing where he handed Sevilla and Valencia eleven cards, and this is a no brainer. — Kyle Bonn

* Sports Interaction does offer Elche 4+ bookings at +115

Ceara vs. Fluminense prediction, best bet

• Best Bet: Fluminense moneyline
• Odds: +145 (Caesars)
• Prediction (Win/Draw): Fluminense

Ceara are making a great late-season push to escape the relegation zone, but the schedule hasn’t been kind, and they continually fall just short. They pushed second-placed Internacional hard on the road last week, but lost 2-1 on a 78th minute penalty. Now, they get fourth-placed Fluminense with just four matches remaining. They’re fighting for their lives, while the visitors have little to play for with a Copa Libertadores spot all but wrapped up. Still, that hasn’t stopped Fluminense recently, as they topped Corinthians on the road last week and are unbeaten in their last three. Ultimately, this pick is simply about taking the road favorite with plus odds. With five goals in his last seven games, German Cano is on fire, and he should help lead the visitors to victory in this match. — Kyle Bonn

Monza vs Bologna prediction, best bet

• Best Bet: Monza to win and 2 or more goals scored
• Odds: +175 (Caesars)
• Prediction (Win/Draw): Monza

The emotions should be running high for Monza in reaction to the stabbing of starting defender Pablo Mari who’ll be out for an extended period. And it’s not like they needed extra motivation given these are three big points in the battle against relegation.

This should otherwise be a fairly even game that will come down to which team can find the back of the net. Bologna’s best attacking weapon, Marko Arnautovic didn’t train all week due to a virus which kept him at home. Ex-Bayern forward Joshua Zirkzee is talented, but Monza’s five-man backline should be able to keep him and Musa Barrow in check. — Simon Borg

* = Sports Interaction offers a parlay of Monza and over 1.5 goals at 2.60. The same parlay at over 2.5 goals is priced at 3.25.

Istanbul Basaksehir vs Giresunspor prediction, best bet

• Best Bet: Giresunspor double chance
• Odds: +145 (Caesars)
• Prediction (Win/Draw): Draw

The result here should be obvious and it might even play out that way: Istanbul Basaksehir should win to nil given their defensive record, their home record, and the fact that Giresunspor has scored the fewest goals in the Super Lig this season.

But Giresunspor have given teams a hard time on the road this season, beating Galatasaray, nearly defeating Andrea Pirlo’s Fatih Karagumruk, and holding the lead late at Alanyaspor.

Add to that the fact that Basaksehir played in Florence on Thursday, Giresunspor had a full week of preparation coming off their best performance of the season, and Giresunspor goalkeeper Onurcan Piri is capable of standing on his head, and the visitors are capable of stealing a result. — Simon Borg

Yesterday’s picks

It was a perfectly dead-even Sunday with last-second results on both ends of the spectrum.

Kyle lost the Spezia draw no bet on a 90th minute winner by Fiorentina. The chance came about after Spezia, who was matching Fiorentina chance-for-chance much of the match, went down a man after Dimitrios Nikolaou earned a straight red card following a VAR review. That left the hosts looking to salvage a point down the stretch, which they could not do.

What goes around, comes around though. Union Berlin, who went down early on a first-half Gladbach goal, came all the way back to snatch all three points and remain atop the Bundesliga. It happened in wild fashion, as Berlin saw two goals ruled out on VAR reviews before finally snatching the winner in the 97th minute with literally the last kick of the game.

Man United, without an injured Antony, was easily under the 2.5 goal total on a 1-0 victory over West Ham. On the flip side, LAFC routed Austin FC to move on to the MLS Cup final.

Soccer best bets records

Records below compiled since the first edition of this post on Monday, October 3.