Can you believe we are headed into round 24 of the 2019/20 Serie A season? Neither can we. Let’s briefly recap what happened on the peninsula last weekend.
Once again, Roma were stunned as Bologna came into their own yard and handed them a 2-3 defeat with Riccardo Orsolini and Musa Barrow delivering the big blows in this one. As for Atalanta, they overturned a deficit and managed to pull out a 1-2 win over Fiorentina at the Franchi, climbing back into 4th place.
Torino’s struggles continued as Fabio Quagliarella and his Samp came away victorious by the scoreline of 1-3. The Granata’s local rivals Juventus also fell on the day as Fabio Borini and Giampaolo Pazzini goals cancelled out Cristiano Ronaldo’s 20th strike on the season to send the Bianconeri into second.
Jeremie Boga put on another clinic as Sassuolo found a way to win away to SPAL 1-2, while Gianluca Lapadula’s brace saw Lecce topple Napoli 2-3 in Naples.
For Sunday’s finale, Inter and Milan opened up another chapter in their Derby della Madonnina history at the San Siro. A tale of two halves, the Nerazzurri managed to erase a 2-0 deficit create by Ante Rebic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic by putting in four second half goals to complete the 4-2 comeback to reclaim possession of first place.
Here are five players to add to your fantacalcio roster ahead of the weekend.
Duván Zapata (ST, Atalanta, Value 15.36) – Finally fit after a rather long injury hiatus, Zapata returns to Atalanta at the right time as they look to clamp down on securing another top four finish and make a deep run in the UCL. The Colombian striker is seemingly picking up right where he left off before his injury, having scored 2 goals and supplying a further 3 assists in his last four Serie A games. Despite being limited to just 13 matches this season, the 28-year old has still posted strong numbers with 8 goals and 5 assists, meaning his prolonged spell away should make him well rested and primed for a great finish. Pick up Zapata for Saturday as the Bergamo club hosts a struggling Roma.
Fabio Quagliarella (ST, Sampdoria, Value 14.55) – Sticking with the striker theme, it seems as though Quagliarella has finally begun to pick up steam and gain form for Samp after a pretty quiet season to date. In his last four games, the Italian veteran has scored four goals and added an assist, leading us to believe he still can be relied upon by Claudio Ranieri to anchor the attack and hopefully keep the Blucerchiati afloat in the relegation battle at the bottom of the table. Sampdoria host Fiorentina on Sunday, making the 37-year old a pretty solid play.
Romelu Lukaku (ST, Inter, Value 24.00) – On to our third striker here as we highlight the recent performances of Inter star Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian has been every bit the player Antonio Conte hoped he would be when Beppe Marotta brought him aboard from Manchester United in the summer. Ranking amongst the top of league in goals with 17, the 26-year old is coming off a one goal performance in last Sunday’s Milan Derby win. By having scored three times in his last two games now, he will look to deliver once again this weekend when Inter travel to Rome to play fellow title contenders Lazio and prove he can perform against the top clubs.
Marash Kumbulla (MID, Verona, Value 11.68) – Verona have certainly overtaken Cagliari as Serie A’s surprise package in 2019/20 as a newly promoted side, and young Albanian defender Marash Kumbulla has been one of many to play a significant role in that. Manager Ivan Juric has put players like Kumbulla in positions to thrive from the beginning, establishing a manageable style that focuses on organization, unity and understanding of strengths. For Kumbulla though, his own individual performances show maturity and tremendous reading of the game, allowing him to execute an average of 1.88 tackles per game. Verona have the current fourth best defensive record in the Italian top flight this season after 23 rounds and have a proven method of playing tightly contested matches against some of the league’s biggest teams as they just held Juventus in check. Consider adding the 20-year old to your roster as the Gialloblu pay Udinese a visit.
Musa Barrow (ATT, Bologna, Value 6.76) – A few seasons ago, Barrow began to burst onto the scene a bit as a bright young attacking talent for Atalanta. But, with the club striving for something greater in the form of UCL football, it became increasingly tough to break into the squad under Gian Piero Gasperini. Now, after completing a €13m move last month to Bologna, the Gambian forward looks to be back on the right track in his career. In his last three games for the Rossoblu, the 21-year old has scored three goals and added an assist, with his most recent two goal outing to sink Roma turning quite a few heads. At 6.76, ride Barrow’s good form into this weekend’s match vs. Genoa at home as it could prove very rewarding.
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