Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round Three – Top Matches

ATALANTA-CAGLIARI

Atalanta: the Bergamaschi took it to Lazio as well, making the second game in a row with four goals scored, as the machine is still working like a charm. Alejandro Gomez not only pulled the strings, but also scored twice and was joined in the stat-sheet by Hans Hateboer and Robin Gosens. Hateboer has already matched his entire production for the 2019/2020 campaign, while Gosens opened his tally. Ruslan Malinovskyi got the start this time and dished an assist, while Luis Muriel almost hit the net off the bench. The only negative aspect of the young season is that Duvan Zapata has not really looked dominant and might need some time to be in peak shape, but they surely have the manpower to work around that. The flank game has been particularly terrific so far. Mario Pasalic might feature in a less offensive position going forward since they are stacked with attackers but short on midfielders and his output could suffer.

Suggested picks: Gomez, Muriel, Gosens.

Cagliari: the Sardinians had troubles generating chances in the Lazio game, even though they did manage to stay close to the opponents in the score and surely they are much more solid than last year’s Sampdoria led by Eusebio Di Francesco, which is not surprising but was not a given. They had the opportunity to tie it but Giovanni Simeone grossly squandered: even though he has been hot in 2020, sometimes his lack of cold blood rears its ugly head. The more aggressive look with Joao Pedro and Riccardo Sottil together in the lineup did not fully work out. Atalanta tend to leave some room to counter if done properly, so their more dynamic players, including Marko Rog and Nahitan Nandez, could have some opportunities there. Razvan Marin, Charalampos Lykogiannis and Paolo Faragò instead have been so-so to open the season and the newcomer does not appear to be completely comfortable as deep-lying playmaker.

Suggested picks: Simeone, Pedro, Sottil.

LAZIO-INTER

Lazio: after faring well in the opener against Cagliari, the Biancocelesti took a clear step back in the crunch game with Atalanta, where they were outplayed right from the get-go. They did manage to re-open the match thanks Felipe Caicedo, but Ciro Immobile wasted a good opportunity to further cut the lead and the Goddess pulled away again. The leading capocannoniere had found the target in the opener, like Manuel Lazzari. Among their top players, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has not been great, while Luis Alberto was fine in Sardinia and subpar Wednesday, so they both need to bounce back. Adam Marusic provided two assists in their opener. Joaquin Correa was a late scratch because of back pain and might not be available in this one, but Caicedo filled in nicely.

Suggested picks: Immobile, Alberto, Caicedo.

Inter: the Beneamata boasts the best attack through two fixtures and the abundance of weapons is quite clear, primarily thanks to addition of Achraf Hakimi and the fact that Alexis Sanchez and Stefano Sensi are currently healthy. Given the presence of Ivan Perisic, Arturo Vidal and Radja Nainggolan, it is an embarrassment of riches throughout the formation for Antonio Conte, now he will have to keep everybody happy. Romelu Lukaku is already up to three goals, Lautaro Martinez bagged two lovely ones and Hakimi has been impossible to stop. The final two goal-scorers have been Roberto Gagliardini and Danilo D’Ambrosio, while Ashely Young and Alexis Sanchez both provided assists. Given how poor Lazio looked in the previous game, they might cook again.

Suggested picks: Lukaku, Martinez, Hakimi.

JUVENTUS-NAPOLI

Juventus: the Bianconeri were pretty unbalanced tactically against Roma, but all in all did not create as many chances as needed to make that gambit paid off. They got a great point out of it given the circumstances, but they are still a work in progress. Cristiano Ronaldo remains the safest pick, maybe in the whole league, while the other tend to move around the formation. Alvaro Morata did not much in his first game back, while Juan Cuadrado and Dejan Kulusevski were used in a less threatening role and the latter had just a pair of flashes. The suspension of Adrien Rabiot will open the door to either Rodrigo Bentancur or Arthur, who should both be mid-range fantasy weapons. Aaron Ramsey made it two solid displays in a row, something that never happened last season. Paulo Dybala should be ready to make an appearance and he would obviously be on the radar if starting.

Suggested picks: Ronaldo, Kulusevski, Ramsey.

Napoli: the Partenopei literally barbecued Genoa until they netted six goals with everybody but Victor Osimhen beating the goalie among their attackers. The negative note was that Lorenzo Insigne got hurt and will miss this clash. Gennaro Gattuso had opted for an uber-offensive scheme against an inferior opponent, but he will probably dial it back here also because of the absence of his captain. They can go in few directions to replace him and deploy either Elijf Elmas, Matteo Politano or simply use one more midfielder, moving Hirving Lozano to the left wing and Dries Mertens to the right. The two pacey forwards have both been tremendous so far and already found the target twice. Piotr Zielinski fired one home and he can be an asset, maybe even more than Fabian Ruiz for his tendency to score. If Juventus play like in the previous match, they could feast on counters.

Suggested picks: Mertens, Lozano, Osimhen

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