Here are the injury updates ahead of the next Serie A weekend.
Napoli: Maurizio Sarri will replace the suspended Mario Rui by moving Elseid Hysaj to the left and inserting Christian Maggio. No new injuries for the Partenopei, who remain without Arek Milik and Faouzi Ghoulam. Some rotation is possible.
Juventus: Miralem Pjanic picked up a small hamstring problem while practicing, which will likely hold him out for the next two weeks. Claudio Marchisio or Rodrigo Bentancur will replace him, but a tactical change could also be in the cards. Gianluigi Buffon, Mattia De Sciglio and Benedikt Howedes are out with muscular problems. Juan Cuadrado’s groin flared up once again, opening the door to Douglas Costa.
Inter: the last game was pretty costly for the Nerazzurri as Joao Mirando strained his calf muscle and Danilo D’Ambrosio sprained the MCL in his right knee. They will be on the shelf until the break, so Luciano Spalletti will have to turn to Andrea Ranocchia and either Joao Cancelo, Davide Santon or Yuto Nagatomo to piece together the backline.
Roma: Rick Karsdorp is the only certain absentee, while Gregorie Defrel could return after a knee bone bruise. There could be some changes from the waist up, with Lorenzo Pellegrini and Patrik Schick supplanting Kevin Strootman and Stephan El Shaarawy compared to the regular XI.
Lazio: Felipe Caicedo will miss about a month with a grade 1-2 biceps femoris strain, while a similar ailment continues to keep Davide Di Gennaro out.
Sampdoria: despite playing last week, Duvan Zapata has practiced a lot on his own due to some muscle fatigue and he is not expected to start in this one, with Gianluca Caprari taking his place upfront. Karol Linetty should make the squad list as he is past his hamstring injury. Ricky Alvarez has missed time with an ankle sprain.
Atalanta: José Luis Palomino has been ruled out with a knee sprain.
Fiorentina: German Pezzella is trying to recover from the last-minute issue that kept him out in Cagliari, otherwise Vitor Hugo will get another start.
Udinese: Samir has solved his hamstring injury and will challenge Bram Nuytinck for the starting job in the backline, which will still miss Gabriele Angella.
Torino: Andrea Belotti had a big scare as he sprained his knee midweek, but the tests revealed that he avoided any ligament or meniscus damage, so he will not miss many games. Mbaye Niang is likely to get the first crack at replacing him as centre-forward, with Umar Sadiq and Lucas Boye as the other, rather uninspiring, options. Adem Ljajic will miss this game as well because of a hamstring strain, leaving another hole in the trident that will probably be filled by Alex Berenguer.
Milan: Gianluigi Donnarumma missed the Coppa Italia due to a sore adductor and Marco Storari was pulled in the warm-ups because of a calf problem. Gigio could recover, while Storari is out: Antonio would be the choice if the starter can not go. Nikola Kalinic was subbed off because of a foot problem and will be replaced by Patrick Cutrone. Ignazio Abate will be sidelined by a calf contracture.
Bologna: Rodrigo Palacio and Federico Di Francesco could return after a full week of practice, but they might be brought along slowly, so Ladislav Krejci and Orji Okwonko are the favourites to start on the left wing, with Cesar Falletti as a potential wild card. Andrea Poli is suspended and will be replaced by either Adam Nagy or Saphir Taider.
Chievo: Alessandro Gamberini and Riccardo Meggiorini are out with muscular injuries, so Nenad Tomovic and either Manuel Pucciarelli or Andrea Pellissier will take their place.
Sassuolo: they will still be without the long-term injured Timo Letschert and Cristiano Dell’Orco, who are out with massive knee injuries, while Claud Adjapong and Stefano Sensi are on the shelf with a hamstring and a calf strain respectively. Davide Biondini missed the last game with an undisclosed injury that could keep him out a little longer. Domenico Berardi has suffered an injury in the final practice and could miss the game.
Genoa: Nicolas Spolli (ankle sprain), Andrea Bertolacci (hamstring soreness) and Aleandro Rosi will be game-time calls, with Luca Rossettini, Petar Brlek and Darko Lazovic as potential replacement if they can not go. Francesco Migliore picked up a calf strain.
Cagliari: Joao Pedro was slapped with a hefty four-game ban for stomping on Chiesa’s foot last week. He also has a broken hand. Diego Farias and Marco Sau will battle it out to replace him. Daniele Dessena is out with a hamstring injury.
Spal: some hamstring problems will continue to keep out Filippo Costa and Sauli Vaisanen, but Felipe is expected to be back and possibly start. Pa Konate and Fabio Della Giovanna are out with heavy injuries. Borriello has a calf edema and will miss the game.
Crotone: Daniel Pavlovic, Mariano Izco and Andrea Nalini have not been called up for the Napoli game, while Arlind Ajeti is suspended. Stefan Simic re-joined the squad after missing the last two games and he will start if healthy enough, otherwise Leandro Cabrera will resurface.
Verona: Alessi Cerci (hamstring strain) and Mohamed Fares (MCL sprain) will make their comeback only after the break, while the recovery times for Niccolò Cherubin, Matteo Bianchetti and Andrea Zaccagni are uncertain. Mattia Valoti, Martin Caceres and Moise Kean are said to be OK after some small issues, while the presence of Samuel Souprayen is uncertain because of some back pain.
Benevento: Pietro Iemmello and Achraf Lazaar will be on the stands with knee problems, Gaetano Letizia is unlikely to make it because of a sore hamstring: Lorenzo Venuti will likely get the starting job. Marco D’Alessandro is trying to recover, otherwise Cristiano Lombardi will be featured from the get-go.
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