UDINESE-CROTONE
Udinese: the Argentinian trio led the charge again for the Bianconeri, as both Ignacio Pussetto and Rodrigo De Paul hit the net against Torino, Roberto Pereyra dished two assists and Ilija Nestorovski chipped in late with his first goal of the season. Some improvements also out of Gerard Deulofeu, who set up a teammate. Nestorovski and Deulofeu will remain relevant until Stefano Okaka and Kevin Lasagna fully return, while Pussetto has played himself into a starter’s role, especially given Lasagna’s struggles thus far. He and De Paul have both scored three times so far. Pereyra moved to five helpers thanks to the recent showing. The two wingbacks Jens Larsen and Marvin Zeegelaar are only midrange options.
Recommended picks: De Paul, Pussetto, Deulofeu.
Crotone: after few scoreless rounds, their front-line finally broke out led not by Simy, who is in a slump, but by Junior Messias, who had a brace and an all-around delightful performance against Spezia. Eduardo Henrique made the stat-sheet in his first start of the season, which should earn him more playing given that Ahmad Benali continues to deal with muscular problems and Milos Vulic is losing some steam. After a pair of assists, Arkadiusz Reca found the target, further boosting his fantasy profile, while Pedro Pereira is more muted offensively on the other flank. Salvatore Molina has quickly resumed being their friskier midfield after shaking off COVID.
Recommended picks: Messias, Molina, Reca.
BENEVENTO-LAZIO
Benevento: no end product but it was a valiant offensive effort for the Sanniti against Sassuolo, who had the misfortune of running into an incredible Andrea Consigli. Their leading scorers Gianluca Lapadula and Gianluca Caprari have not hit paydirt in a while but they are the ones that have the most chances in any given match, especially the centre-forward. Roberto Insigne came off the bench well on Friday, same for Iago Falque, who was finally able to return from an injury and rattled the crossbar with a great strike. Riccardo Improta had another good game so the odd man out should be Artur Ionita if they decide to switch to a more offensive design, but this may not be the right match-up to pull it off. Gaetano Letizia is very busy offensively for a fullback.
Recommended picks: Lapadula, Caprari, Improta/Falque.
Lazio: pretty rough outing for the Biancocelesti against Verona, despite a great goal by Felipe Caicedo, who keeps making the most of his opportunities. Even though he has not been outstanding so far, the machine jams up when Luis Alberto is not present, but he might return in this one. Ciro Immobile saw his streak of consecutive goals came to an end even though he had a pair of opportunities, while Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (three goals/two assists) was mostly held in check. The two could be candidates to initially sit in this one, while Joaquin Correa did it over the weekend and will be a primary weapon Tuesday. The star duo remains on the radar even if they commence on the bench. Manuel Lazzari had an unlucky own goal but he is gearing into form on the offensive end, while Mohamed Fares and Adam Marusic have not really been weapons lately. The rotation might give a meaningful role to Andreas Pereira, who has done okay whenever fielded.
Recommended picks: Immobile/Caicedo, Correa, Milinkovic-Savic/Luis Alberto.
PARMA-CAGLIARI
Parma: Hernani confirmed to have become a fantasy weapon in the Milan clash, where he both scored an assisted. With three goals, is now their second-best scorer right behind Gervinho and their top playmaker with two helpers. Jasmin Kurtic found the target too in that game: he had not done in a minute, but he has a history of being a prolific midfielder, even though he has not really proved it in Parma. Yann Karamoh had a decent game but he has weirdly regressed a bit since he begun starting with regularity. They are still waiting for one between Andreas Cornelius and Roberto Inglese to interrupt their slumps. Juraj Kucka might come back in this one but might not be great physical conditions.
Recommended picks: Gervinho, Hernani, Kurtic.
Cagliari: help is on the way for the Sardinians as Giovanni Simeone and Nahitan Nandez cleared the COVID protocol and featured shortly against Inter. Leonardo Pavoletti has been pretty good in relief, but he missed a sitter in that game and in general Giovanni Simeone is more functional to the coach’s tactics. Nandez plays in fluid role that has allowed him to find some success in the final third. Riccardo Sottil returned to the stat-sheet with a lovely goal and he does not have much competition right now with Adam Ounas an Gaston Pereiro out with COVID. He is sprightly but not always clinical. Joao Pedro (six goals) has cooled off a little, but he is their most threatening man game in and game out.
Recommended picks: Pedro, Sottil, Simeone/Pavoletti.
SPEZIA-BOLOGNA
Spezia: they lost their top weapon M’Bala Nzola right in the immediate lead-up of the match and it showed as Roberto Piccoli is pretty raw and was too easily rendered ineffective. Nzola should be able to return after tending to a personal matter. Diego Farias finally managed to hit the net after squandering few opportunities, while Kevin Agudelo, initially picked over Emmanuel Gyasi, was not great. Pretty good return for Tommaso Pobega, while Nahuel Estevez continues to be bubbly in the final third, more than Giulio Maggiore and Paolo Bartolomei. Salvador Ferrer is their best option at right-back but they have a quick leash with him, while Simone Bastoni is quietly putting together an impressive campaign on the other flank. Daniele Verde could begin seeing more minutes after the injury.
Recommended picks: Nzola, Gyasi, Farias/Estevez.
Bologna: the absences are beginning to take a major toll, plus COVID is now involved, and the drubbing handed to them by Roma might linger, but this could be a nice bounce-back spot given how poorly the Aquilotti defended in the previous game. Roberto Soriano (five goals, four assists) has been front and center, while Musa Barrow has been less productive (two goals, two assists, but not less involved. Emanuel Vignato punched one in versus Inter, exploiting the fact that all the other right wingers are hurt. Rodrigo Palacio moves around a lot and opens spaces for others, but he is rarely a scoring threat.
Recommended picks: Soriano, Barrow, Vignato.
VERONA-SAMPDORIA
Verona: Milan Juric pulled another one out of the hat using Adrien Tameze as false nine instead of their other options and he promptly delivered with an opportunistic goal. It remains to be seen whether that was a special adjustment for the Lazio game or if it will have traction. Surely Eddie Salcedo, who effectively replaced Samuel Di Carmine/Andrea Favilli while the midfielders where simply switched positions, was instrumental in the win and that could lead to a bigger role. Federico Dimarco stayed hot by propitiating an own goal and he was outright picked over Darko Lazovic, who has not looked very energetic after Coronavirus. Mattia Zaccagni (two goals, four assists) and Antonin Barak (three goals) had to take care of more of the dirty work Saturday, but this game figures to be easier, allowing them to be more active offensively.
Recommended picks: Zaccagni, Salcedo, Dimarco.
Sampdoria: they gave some fits to Napoli thanks to the third goal of the year by Jakub Jankto, but once again fell shorts of nabbing a fully satisfying result. A new chapter in their chase of a partner for Fabio Quagliarella is represented by Valerio Verre, who was pretty good in a similar role at Verona but has not been given many opportunities so far. He picked up a great assist in Naples, easily outdoing Gaston Ramirez, Manolo Gabbiadini and Antonino La Gumina that previous got a crack at that job. While they wait for another attacker to fully emerge, Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Candreva are their two most prolific options, however Candreva has not been called up and Quagliarella might rest, Damsgaard might finally get a crack at the starting job.
Recommended picks: Quagliarella/Damsgaard, Verre, Jankto.
Are you a Serie A expert? Can you defeat the top Serie A Fantasy Managers? If you think so, play fantayseriea.com now!
To leave a comment, you must be logged into www.eurofantasyleague.com