TORINO-LAZIO
Torino: the Granata had a nice reaction after falling in an early hole versus Cagliari, but an untimely penalty did them in. Andrea Belotti has found the target for two straight matches and has been excellent missed penalty aside. Simone Zaza is unlikely to be present, but Simone Verdi and especially Cristian Ansaldi, two of their most talented players, saw minutes in the past match and could be ready to start, unlocking few options up front, first of all the advancement of Alex Berenguer. Ansaldi had a positive impact after he subbed on, Verdi might need more time and had been struggling prior to the lockdown.
Suggested picks: Belotti, Ansaldi, Berenguer.
Lazio: they had to dig deep to down Fiorentina, but Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto came through. The capocannoniere has not looked sharp in the resumption, but still buried a pivotal penalty. The Spaniard was mighty fine against the Viola. Their other star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic netted a scorcher against Atalanta, so their centerpieces have all contributed in the first two matches. Only Joaquin Correa is amiss but he has been slowed down by a pair of physical problems. That should allow Felipe Caicedo to log decent minutes and he is generally a threat. Manuel Lazzari has been strong out on the right wings, Jony has had his moments on the left.
Suggested picks: Immobile, Alberto, Milinkovic-Savic.
GENOA-JUVENTUS
Genoa: Iago Falque scored two consecutive penalties, but he appeared to ask to come out versus Brescia, so his presence is uncertain. They have been living off penalties in the past two games: if both Falque and Domenico Criscito are sidelined, the next men up are Andrea Pinamonti, who broke a lengthy dry spell, and Antonio Sanabria. Sanabria came back from a small injury and played well in limited minutes, so he should soon re-claim his leading role. Coach Davide Nicola showed some willingness to go with a more offensive-minded midfield, but might pump the breaks on that in a difficult match-up. Goran Pandev is likely to be their main offensive hub.
Suggested picks: Sanabria, Falque, Pandev.
Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala scored in the first two Serie A matches after the resumption and were impressive in the last game, now the issue for fantasy owners is that they have recovered Gonzalo Higuain and Douglas Costa, which could lead to some rest for their bonafide stars. Aaron Ramsey looked good in his limited minutes so far and he should be on the radar if he starts, while, as usual Rodrigo Bentancur and Juan Cuadrado are worth a look for their playmaking potential. It could be nice spot for their defenders too since they have not conceded in the first matches.
Suggested picks: Ronaldo, Dybala, Ramsey..
BOLOGNA-CAGLIARI
Bologna: Musa Barrow came to the rescue off the bench against Sampdoria, scoring a penalty and setting up Riccardo Orsolini. Sinisa Mihajlovic blasted him for his attitude in the post-game, but he is one of their top-two most valuable players. Rodrigo Palacio was better against Juventus than in the most recent one and the packed schedule does not help him, while Nicola Sansone and Roberto Soriano have been underwhelming in the first two rounds in June. Their offensive-minded fullbacks deserve consideration.
Suggested picks: Barrow, Orsolini, Dijks.
Cagliari: Giovanni Simeone has been on fire since the return of Serie A, hitting the net in all three appearances. Joao Pedro, Radja Nainggolan and Nahitan Nandez joined him in the past game, so all their main contributors are in a groove and so it is no surprise they are finally getting better results. On top of scoring, Nainggolan coming back made a huge difference in the build-up of their offense. Luca Pellegrini has been fizzy with more room on the left wing. Bologna are pretty vulnerable in the back.
Suggested picks: Simone, Pedro, Nainggolan
INTER-BRESCIA
Inter: they eked out one in Parma despite an ugly performance, with two defenders fueling the comeback, Stefan De Vrij and Alessandro Bastoni. Their strikers are primed to bounce back against a much more porous defence and both Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez scored against Sassuolo. Alexis Sanchez has been effervescent in his limited minutes, while Christian Eriksen has been on a steady decline after shining against Napoli in Coppa Italia. Nicolò Barella sometimes managed to have some chances. Their wing-backs are fairly inconsistent, but Antonio Candreva remains the most reliable one.
Suggested picks: Lukaku, Martinez, Sanchez.
Brescia: two successful outings in a row for Alfredo Donnarumma and the way they treated him because of a presumed incompatibility with Mario Balotelli has been regrettable. They re-united the prolific Serie B tandem, with Donnarumma in the leading role and Ernesto Torregrossa as his Robin. Stefano Sabelli is coming off an assist, the other fullback Alessandro Semprini shockingly scored. Even though they have some potential for bonuses in the midfield, no one between Birkin Bjarnason, Jaromir Zmrhal and Simon Skrabb has broke through yet and Romulo has been under-utilized.
Suggested picks: Donnarumma, Torregrossa, Sabelli.
FIORENTINA-SASSUOLO
Fiorentina: Franck Ribery was impressive versus Lazio and now the matter for him is simply staying healthy and how much he can play in a short turnaround. But when he is starting, he is surely recommendable. They will get Federico Chiesa back from suspension, while Dusan Vlahovic was sent off in the last game: his back-up Patrick Cutrone, despite his energy, has not found the target in a long-time. Gaetano Castrovilli shoulders heavy responsibilities, but he does not show up in the stat-sheet very often. Rachid Ghezzal actually fared well against Lazio and he is more offensive-minded than Alfred Duncan and Marco Benassi in the midfield.
Suggested picks: Ribery, Chiesa, Castrovilli.
Sassuolo: Jeremie Boga showed what he is capable off in an explosion off the bench against Verona, so he is back in the good graces after two duds. Domenico Berardi and Francesco Caputo have both hit the net after Serie A’s return, Filip Djuricic has been a brilliant assist-man but the coach is managing him. He did not start in the last fixture so he should do it here. All four of their fullbacks, Mert Muldur, Grigoris Kyriakopoulos, Jeremy Toljan and Rogerio, are pretty pesky. Gregoire Defrel has been underwhelming despite some good playing time, Hamed Traore instead seems to have disappeared.
Suggested picks: Boga, Caputo, Berardi.
LECCE-SAMPDORIA
Lecce: the Juventus game was almost a throwaway as Fabio Liverani went with a very defensive tactic and rested their linchpins Khouma Babacar and Riccardo Saponara, giving a chance to Yevhen Shakhov and Brayan Vera. The youngster was fine in a tough situation, but that is unlikely to turn into something. The attackers are likely to be back in the XI in a much easier match-up and join the usual Matteo Mancosu in the list of okay options. Filippo Falco and Antonin Barak, who were factors before the lockdown, are still laboring to find their best condition.
Suggested picks: Mancosu, Saponara, Babacar.
Sampdoria: creating chances remain a major issue and the fact that Gaston Ramirez has been in and out of the formation and pretty subdued does not help them, as he is their biggest source of offense. The good news is that Fabio Quagliarella is expected back for at least a cameo in this one and that will be a major boost. Manolo Gabbiadini and Federico Bonazzoli have put their name in the stat-sheet in the past two titls, but they have nowhere near the gravitas of the veteran bomber. Fabio Depaoli and Morten Thorsby have been lively, Jakub Jankto in always interesting but very hit-or-miss. They will be facing the worst defence in the League.
Suggested picks: Gabbiadini, Ramirez, Depaoli
SPAL-MILAN
SPAL: the Estensi are not getting any break from the schedule, but they were at least able to score, with the usual Andrea Petagna, against Napoli, and that is newsworthy given their meager offensive numbers for the season. Their bunch of technical midfielders, Mattia Valoti, Lucas Castro, Simone Missiroli and Gabriel Strefezza, have not done much after the resumption. The more interesting things have come from the left chain, as both Arkadiusz Reca and Mo Fares have been able to pick up an assist in the last two games.
Suggested picks: Petagna, Fares, Strefezza.
Milan: they had a convincing outing against Roma too, especially in the second half, taking home a deserved win. While they wait for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to come back, which might happen in this match, the top contributors remain the same, as Ante Rebic and Hakan Calhanoglu are going like gangbusters and Theo Hernandez is a close third, more in real play than on the fantasy game. Giacomo Bonaventura and Samu Castillejo have had their moments but are not as consistent, even though the ex-Atalanta man does have a nose for the goal.
Suggested picks: Rebic, Calhanoglu, Hernandez.
VERONA-PARMA
Verona: Darko Lazovic confirmed his sizzling form with a goal plus assist display against Sassuolo, then they welcomed back Matteo Pessina after a little physical hiccup and even Mariusz Stepinski resurfaced after a long time. Samuel Di Carmine will probably be back in the XI in this one, while Fabio Borini and Eddie Salcedo’s statuses are uncertain. In any case, whoever ends up playing as no.10 is going to be a threat. Valerio Verre and Pessina have both notched three goals so far. Their defence has not been as good as before the shutdown and they will not have Marash Kumbulla in this one.
Suggested picks: Lazovic, Di Carmine, Verre
Parma: they looked fantastic for 75 minutes against Inter, with Dejan Kulusevki wreaking havoc on fast-breaks and Gervinho scoring his first goal in June. But they did not double the lead and collapsed late, wasting away a quality display. Andreas Cornelius put together a hat-trick in the previous tilt, so their top three players have all done some damage recently. Juraj Kucka is suspended, which means they will have to lean more on Jasmin Kurtic and Hernani.
Suggested picks: Kulusevski, Cornlius, Gervinho.
ATALANTA-NAPOLI
Atalanta: even with Josip Ilicic at about 50 percent, the Bergamaschi’s attack continues to produce, also thanks to the back-ups. Ruslan Malinovskyi scored against Inter, Luis Muriel sunk Udinese with a brace. The Ukrainian midfield is disqualified, so if Ilicic is unable to start, either Muriel or Mario Pasalic will have a big role, but the former has been way better off the bench. Pasalic is supremely sneaky. Beyond the aforementioned players, Duvan Zapata, Alejandro Gomez and Robin Gosens have been marvelous as per usual.
Suggested picks: Zapata, Gosens, Pasalic.
Napoli: their front-line is humming as well and they only one who has not found the target after the resumption is Lorenzo Insigne, denied by an offside in the past match. Dries Mertens, Arkadiusz Milik, José Callejon and even reserves Hirving Lozano and Amin Younes have all delivered. Fabian Ruiz notched two assists versus SPAL and he and Piotr Zielinski take care of a major role within the scheme. Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Mario Rui are gearing up for a great battle on the wings and, for different reasons, both are factors on set pieces.
Suggested picks: Mertens, Insigne, Zielinski.
ROMA-UDINESE
Roma: the Giallorossi mustered just a pair of chances against Milan and squandered them, suffering an almost fatal loss for their Champions League hopes. Lorenzo Pellegrini will miss this one, so Henrikh Mkhitaryan will have to carry the creative load. Nobody has stood out in their rotating cast on the wings: Justin Kluivert, Carles Perez and Cengiz Under, although they could break out in any moment due to their talent. So Edin Dzeko, who bagged two in the Sampdoria bout, and Aleksandar Kolarov, who weirdly rested against Milan, are their most appetible choices.
Suggested picks: Dzeko, Mkhitaryan, Kolarov.
Udinese: even without Rodrigo De Paul, fast counters proved to be a good enough gambit to threaten Atalanta and Kevin Lasagna feasted. It will be the same strategy here, but with more quality. Seko Fofana and Ken Sema also furnished pretty good performance and they are bound to get better as the season progresses, Stefano Okaka too. Sans Rolando Mandragora, it is possible that Jens Stryger Larsen moves to the midfield and he has some assisting potential.
Suggested picks: De Paul, Lasagna, Fofana.
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