LAZIO-SASSUOLO
Lazio: the Biancocelesti had scrapped their way into two wins after the resumption, but they had generally looked off and everything came crashing down in Lecce. Ciro Immobile, other than drilling a penalty kick, has not been the same player he was prior to the stoppage and he has not been in synch with Luis Alberto. The issues were then exacerbated by key injuries, the latest one to Joaquin Correa. Sergej Milikovic-Savic, like Alberto, bagged one recently but has not been as dominating as in the past. Felipe Caicedo returned to the box score after a while in Lecce and he is poised to take on a massive role. The form is lacking, the talent is not, so they can snap out of it in any given moment. Manuel Lazzari has arguably been their most consistent player recently.
Suggested picks: Caicedo, Lazzari, Immobile.
Sassuolo: the Neroverdi had another big-boy display in the Emilian Derby and have not-so-sneakily been one of the best teams after the League resumed. Their forwards are taking turns in administering pain to the opponents and it was Domenico Berardi and Lukas Haraslin who did it against Bologna. Jeremie Boga and Filip Djuricic will be back in the XI here and the former has been outstanding, then Francesco Caputo is always a good bet. Mert Muldur picked up two more bonus points but he might get the day off after few consecutive starts.
Suggested picks: Caputo, Boga, Berardi.
BRESCIA-ROMA
Brescia: Ernesto Torregrossa scored against Torino, but it was not enough to follow up the win over Verona with another successful result. They have been way better at home lately and remain extremely front-loaded, so the only really good picks are the two strikers that have been carrying them, as Alfredo Donnarumma netted three goals after the League resumed. They have slightly modified their formation and Nikolas Spalek, Birkir Bjarnason, Jaromir Zmrhal and Simon Skrabb now mostly play on the flanks, but it has not really improved their output for now. Behind Sandro Tonali, their biggest playmaker oddly remains Stefano Sabelli.
Suggested picks: Donnarumma, Torregrossa.
Roma: the Giallorossi finally got back on track against Parma, overcoming early adversities, but they are facing the challenge of replacing Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has been their best player in the last two rounds, but really all season long when fully healthy, and also a pair of defensive pieces. Among their up-and-down attackers, Carles Perez has been the most active, Cengiz Under has kept on struggling and Justin Kluivert was outright excluded for a coach’s decision in the last match. It is probably too early for Nicolò Zaniolo to start, but he did have some flashes on Wednesday. It will mostly be up to Edin Dzeko and Lorenzo Pellegrini to shoulder a bigger role and the match-up should help. Jordan Veretout finally rediscovered his touch from distance. The new scheme puts more emphasis on the flank game, but Paulo Fonseca is rotating his men a lot there, so picking one is a risky proposition.
Suggested picks: Dzeko, Pellegrini, Perez.
JUVENTUS-ATALANTA
Juventus: the Bianconeri squandered a pretty good offensive showing in San Siro with 30 terrible minutes in the back. Adrien Rabiot scored his first goal of the season: he has been on a moderate rise lately but given his past numbers he is unlikely to turn into a fantasy weapon. Cristiano Ronaldo tucked another one home and he is closing in on Ciro Immobile in the capocannoniere chart. They will welcome back Paulo Dybala from suspension who, like Ronaldo, delivered in few matches in a row. It might be time for them to unleash Douglas Costa, who has looked extremely good in the recent cameos, while Federico Bernardeschi has not done much of note. Juan Cuadrado has been pretty productive lately, Rodrigo Bentancur stays a medium-range asset.
Suggested picks: Ronaldo, Dybala, Costa.
Atalanta: despite the second not particularly explosive outing in a row for their fire-breathing breathing offense, they notched another W thanks to Rafael Toloi and Luis Muriel. In their deep front-line, stocks up for Muriel (two goals in a row) and Ruslan Malinovskyi, a bit down for Duvan Zapata and Josip Ilicic, who is struggling to fully come back from an injury, steady for mastermind Alejandro Gomez. Gian Piero Gasperini generally likes to put Mario Pasalic as no.10 in this kind of match-ups for his tactical savviness, but he rarely had some many options available throughout the season, so it is not a sure thing this time around. Robin Gosens is always a threat.
Suggested picks: Muriel, Zapata, Pasalic.
GENOA-SPAL
Genoa: the Grifone predictably could not get much going versus Napoli, even though they managed to equalize with a header by Edoardo Goldaniga. Antonio Sanabria returned to the XI but struggled, so it is likely that either Iago Falque or Goran Pandev, who have both scored one after the resumption, will partner Andrea Pinamonti (three goals in the last four rounds) in this one and the match-up could not be any better. Domenico Criscito remains questionable and Antonio Barreca is not as dangerous. Lasse Schone provided an assist in the past game. Stefano Sturaro and Francesco Cassata are their midfielders that attack the most, but their production has been meager.
Suggested picks: Pinamonti, Falque, Pandev.
SPAL: the Estensi’s front-line keeps on wheezing and was held scoreless by Udinese for the second match in a row and it feels like they have given up at this point. The head of the fish Andrea Petagna has found the target just once in the last five games, the other recent goals were provided by Sergio Floccari and Mattia Valoti, who is currently hurt. They are a fantasy wasteland as not even their most lively guy throughout the season, Gabriel Strefezza, has picked up bonuses recently. Luigi Di Biagio is trying out every man and every scheme, but with poor results. The return of Federico Di Francesco will help if he can stay healthy, but there does not seem to be much hope at this point.
Suggested picks: Petagna, Strefezza, Di Francesco
CAGLIARI-LECCE
Cagliari: two games without scoring for the Rossoblù, which put a damper on Giovanni Simeone’s streak, even though he came close to keeping it alive, while Joao Pedro has not been as prolific after the lockdown. Radja Nainggolan has had some big-time performances but also some stinkers since he returned from an injury, Nahitan Nandez has been more consistent and freer when fielded on the right flank, Marko Rog and Artur Ionita instead mostly takes care of the dirty work in their latest configuration. Despite the recent stunning result, Lecce remain very porous in the back and the Sardinians might pounce, especially should they have room to counter, something they excel at.
Suggested picks: Simeone, Pedro, Nainggolan.
Lecce: the Salentini upset Lazio in the last fixture thanks to the second goal in a row by defender Fabio Lucioni and the third in the season of Khouma Babacar, who however subbed off due to an injury and will have to be assessed. Marco Mancosu’s streak of converted PKs ended in poor fashion, but he had a strong display anyway: he is poised to return to a more offensive role and therefore be even more appealing because two midfielders, Zan Majer and Alessandro Deiola, shook off their injuries. If Babacar was forced to miss time, they would have no alternatives to fielding a very light attack: some signs of growth out of Filippo Falco, who set up Lucioni, Diego Farias has had a positive impact in his return, while Riccardo Saponara has been pretty underwhelming.
Suggested picks: Mancosu, Farias, Falco.
FIORENTINA-VERONA
Fiorentina: the decent performance against Parma, where they were helped by two PKs, quickly turned out to be an anomaly as they resumed being their underwhelming selves in Cagliari game, despite Dusan Vlahovic being back from suspension. Federico Chiesa has been disappointing after the resumption, Gaetano Castrovilli has not been much better and is nursing a sore ankle. Vlahovic has not delivered in few consecutive outings, so the only good news up front have been the form of Franck Ribery, Erick Pulgar’s cold blood, Patrick Cutrone recently snapping out of scoring drought, and the okay displays of Alfred Duncan, who is suspended in this weekend, and Rachid Ghezzal.
Suggested picks: Ribery, Ghezzal, Cutrone.
Verona: they were down several attackers against Inter, but Darko Lazovic came through, also thanks to a more offensive position, and then Miguel Veloso fired one home late to make it one-all. Mattia Zaccagni, Fabio Borini and Eddie Salcedo will have to be assessed prior to this game as well. Matteo Pessina hit the net twice recently and Valerio Verre has set up two teammates after the resumption. Lazovic might stay at no.10 because Federico Dimarco, despite the unfortunate own goal, has been pretty good out on the left flank. Samuel Di Carmine is set to return to the XI and he has found the target three times in the last five appearances.
Suggested picks: Di Carmine, Lazovic, Pessina.
PARMA-BOLOGNA
Parma: Juraj Kucka converted a penalty kick but they did not generate much offense in Roma, where the trident was often left stranded. Andreas Cornelius had a hat-trick right out of the gate in late June but has not been great after that, Gervinho scored once in six matches, Dejan Kulusevski has been the most consistent out of the trio and they will be facing a pretty lax back-line. Kucka has taken over PK duties and also notched one on open play versus Torino, while their other top midfielders, Jasmin Kurtic and Hernani, have not really showed up lately. Riccardo Gagliolo netted one versus Verona and he at times makes his presence felt in the box.
Suggested picks: Kulusevski, Cornelius, Gervinho.
Bologna: the Felsinei did not wake up until late against Sassuolo, where the usual Musa Barrow (fourth goal in a row) kept their hopes alive. Riccardo Orsolini has not been super productive after Serie A resumed but posted one goal, differently from their other featured attackers, Nicola Sansone and Rodrigo Palacio, which have been hurt by the fact that Barrow has pretty much vacuumed all the scoring. Roberto Soriano won the appeal against his suspension and will therefore likely be in the XI. Among the back-ups, Musa Juwara came through against Inter and Andreas Skov Olsen shook off an injury and might re-enter the rotation.
Suggested picks: Barrow, Orsolini, Sansone.
UDINESE-SAMPDORIA
Udinese: their three offensive fulcrums, Rodrigo De Paul, Stefano Okaka and Kevin Lasagna all put their name in the stat-sheet in Ferrara and their offense has been on a steady rise since Lasagna found consistency (five goals in the last four tilts). De Paul had been churning out assists before rifling one home, while Okaka surely needed it. Since Mato Jajalo and Walace are pretty defensive-minded and their flank game has not had much pizzazz, although Ken Sema has been fine in various moments of the season, their only other fantasy relevant guy is Seko Fofana, who has picked up bonus points in three of the last four matches thanks to one goal and two assists.
Suggested picks: Lasagna, De Paul, Okaka.
Sampdoria: they came a cropper against Atalanta but had taken care of business in the two previous matches to that thanks to goals coming from Gaston Ramirez, Manolo Gabbiadini and Karol Linetty, who have all logged two after the resumption and the Uruguayan attacker has been active also assist-wise. Fabio Quagliarella was available but unused in the last two matches, this could be the right game for him to come back. Federico Bonazzoli and Antonino La Gumina saw an uptick of playing time and the former scored one. Fabio Depaoli, Morten Thorsby and Jakub Jankto have alternated in helping out their low-wattage offense.
Suggested picks: Ramirez, Gabbiadini, Linetty.
NAPOLI-MILAN
Napoli: Dries Mertens tallied his second goal in the past four matches in typically spectacular fashion in Genoa, then Hirving Lozano punched home his second since the resumption, confirming his recent dangerousness despite the limited playing time. Unseating Lorenzo Insigne is impossible, perhaps he can find more room on the right wung where Matteo Politano has not been great and José Callejon is on his way out, but he has been terrific lately. Fabian Ruiz has really stepped it up assist-wise and he is outplaying Piotr Zielinski, who however in the past had a tendency of coming through in big matches.
Suggested picks: Mertens, Insigne, Callejon.
Milan: the Rossoneri staged a terrific comeback against Juventus, propelled by goals of their top guys, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ante Rebic, and then by Franck Kessie and Rafael Leao, who is turning into an asset off the bench having hit the net in three of the past four rounds. Hakan Calhanoglu did not seem right physically, while Giacomo Bonaventura picked up the second assist in a row. No bonuses but Alexis Saelemaekers has filled in nicely for Samu Castillejo. Theo Hernandez and Ismael Bennacer have not made the stat-sheet lately but are integral parts of their formation.
Suggested picks: Rebic, Ibrahimovic, Bonaventura.
INTER-TORINO
Inter: two meh results in a row for the Beneamata which, all things considered, has been totally convincing only in the Brescia rout from mid-June one. Their top guy Romelu Lukaku might have picked up a small injury and his presence is uncertain. Lautaro Martinez has struck out in the last five outings, Alexis Sanchez has been better eye test-wise: they would have big shoes to fill if Lukaku was out. Antonio Candreva extended his good run of form participating in the two goals against Verona and he has either scored or assisted in four of the last six fixtures. Ashley Young and Cristiano Biraghi have been more up-and-down but also picked up bonuses here and there. Christian Eriksen quickly vanished. Marcelo Brozovic, Roberto Gagliardini and Matias Vecino are mid-range options in the midfield.
Suggested picks: Sanchez, Martinez, Candreva.
Torino: they too were boosted by a home date against Brescia, where Andrea Belotti extended his hot streak (five consecutive goals) and Simone Zaza and Simone Verdi got off their schneid. Even though he has generally not played all that well, they have been better with Zaza in the lineup, but he is suspended for this one. Alex Berenguer is likely to take over and, while has been bouncy until March, he has fallen to the background. Soualiho Meite and Simone Edera have had some good performances lately, while Cristian Ansaldi, who is a threat with his passing, seems to still be working his way back into tip-top shape.
Suggested picks: Belotti, Verdi, Berenguer.
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