CAGLIARI-NAPOLI
Cagliari: Joao Pedro bagged a brace against Roma, but they still came away empty-handed and they have not triumphed in a while. Besides the Brazilian, who is at eight goals in the season, they have not gotten much out of their other strikers as Giovanni Simeone has not produced after missing time with COVID and Leonardo Pavoletti had an immediate spark but then faded once his playing time resumed being irregular. Riccardo Sottil has found the target twice so far, but he has also been rather wasteful given the amount of opportunities he has had. Adam Ounas should be at full speed after the break and he is effervescent, but not very clutch in the box. Nahitan Nandez finished the year on a high performance-wise, but he might play in a defensive role in this one. Their fullbacks Charalampos Lykogiannis (two goals) and Gabriele Zappa (three assists) have been among their top contributors.
Recommended picks: Pedro, Sottil, Ounas.
Napoli: they had a very disappointing outing against Torino, but Lorenzo Insigne bailed them out late with a gem for his fifth goal of the season. Dries Mertens will not return and Victor Osimhen has slim chances as well, but their leading scorer Hirving Lozano (six goals, two assists) will be in better shape for this one after miraculous recovery for the previous match. Andrea Petagna (three goals) has fared better as a super sub than when given the keys of the attack because of all the absences and the same thing pretty much goes for Matteo Politano (three goals, two assists). Piotr Zielinski has dished three assists while featuring in a major role, but, despite his past numbers, he has yet to hit bullseye.
Recommended picks: Insigne, Lozano, Petagna.
FIORENTINA-BOLOGNA
Fiorentina: they had quietly started trending in the right direction beforehand, but surely it was hard to imagine such an explosion versus Juventus. Dusan Vlahovic has finally broken out of his shell and put his name in the stat-sheet in four consecutive matches, but he has been their only attacker to produce since their two other recent goals were scored by Martin Caceres and Nikola Milenkovic. They have gone back-and-forth with their scheme, but Franck Ribery has plenty of freedom in the most recent one, and he is coming off a gorgeous assist, the fourth of his campaign, while the level of involvement of Gaetano Castrovilli (who had four early goals) hinges on who is partnering him in the midfield, but he remains one of their top options given the lack of fantasy alternatives. Christian Kouame and Patrick Cutrone no longer seem to be part of the plans and José Callejon is a poor tactical fit. Giacomo Bonaventura has been lively but he is not a full-time starter. Cristiano Biraghi is out because of a suspension and Antonio Barreca is not as good.
Recommended picks: Vlahovic, Ribery, Castrovilli.
Bologna: they clawed back versus Atalanta thanks to a solid appearance off the bench by Riccardo Orsolini, who dished his third assist, and two goals by defenders, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Nehuen Paz. The Japanese internationals has predictably looked good on the flank, but Lorenzo De Silvestri was hurt for that one and they prefer to have him as center-back. Despite his massive usage rate, Musa Barrow remains feast-or-famine and he has found the target just once in the past eight matches, but he has the potential to break out at any moment. Rodrigo Palacio’s output has been limited to a couple of assists. Orsolini’s return will ding Emanuel Vignato a little, but all attackers will likely get some minutes. Roberto Soriano has been head-and-shoulders their leader as he has already notched six goals and four assists.
Recommended picks: Soriano, Orsolini, Barrow.
GENOA-LAZIO
Genoa: Davide Ballardini relied on their security blanket (3-5-2) and on the veterans in his debut, starting Mattia Destro and Goran Pandev together, and they combined on the first goal, while Valon Behrami drew the PK that Domenico Criscito buried to down Spezia. It remains to be seen whether it will be a trend, and Pandev is slightly banged up, but Marko Pjaca (three goals), Gianluca Scamacca and Eldor Shomurodov could lose some shine because of the situation and Destro has been surprisingly prolific. Paolo Ghiglione is their assist leader, but Davide Zappacosta has returned and will take some, if not most, of his playing time away. The ex-Chelsea man had started off on the right foot but then missed a lot of time with COVID and an injury. Luca Pellegrini might be able to return as well on the other flank. Miha Zajc was given good minutes for the first time in a while right before the break and he and Nicolò Rovella are on paper their most interesting midfielders fantasy-wise, but they tend to prefer using their grittier options and the match-up is challenging.
Recommended picks: Destro, Pandev/Pjaca, Zappacosta/Ghiglione.
Lazio: Ciro Immobile missed a PK against Milan, but he atoned later with a stunning goal, his ninth goal in Serie A play, while Luis Alberto pounced on the tap-in for his second consecutive goal, thus leaving a long swoon in the rearview mirror. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had to work hard in the midfield in that one, but he still busted out a great assist for Immobile, his fourth one of the year (he has also three goals). Their star trio is humming, while Joaquin Correa is out with an injury. There is something weird going on behind the scenes involving Felipe Caicedo, so it could be either Vedat Muriqi or Andreas Pereira stepping in rather than the prolific super sub (four goals). The wing-backs Adam Marusic (three assists) and Manuel Lazzari (one helper) have both looked good recently.
Recommended picks: Immobile, Milinkovic-Savic, Alberto.
PARMA-TORINO
Parma: they might have be forced to play this game without their leading scorer Gervinho, who is nursing an injury, which would give a major role to Yann Karamoh, who has had a couple of flashes but not much consistency so far. Andreas Cornelius and Roberto Inglese keep sputtering, but their midfielders have picked up the slack, at least partially, as Juraj Kucka, Jasmin Kurtic and Hernani all have scored at least twice. Hernani also has two assists to his name. Juan Brunetta picked up one versus Crotone and could be given a shot from the start in this one.
Recommended picks: Kucka, Kurtic, Karamoh
Torino: they have recovered some pieces as Simone Zaza and Simone Verdi have shaken off their injuries, now they will look for some continuity as their search of the right partner for Andrea Belotti continues. Verdi recently opened his scoring tally, Zaza clocked in just once as well, while Federico Bonazzoli is trying to shake off a physical problem. They have not fully gone back to the more offensive-minded scheme yet despite welcoming back some options and that has hurt Sasa Lukic, who shined as no.10 but can not be as dangerous as box-to-box. It has been a game-to-game proposition though. Wilfred Singo is one of the most energetic wingbacks in the League. Belotti has clearly been their best weapon, registering nine goals and three assists.
Recommended picks: Belotti, Verdi, Lukic.
SPEZIA-VERONA
Spezia: they have fallen back to earth in terms of results, but that has not stopped M’Bala Nzola from putting up numbers, as he is up to seven goals in just ten appearances. Emmanuel Gyasi picked up his fourth assist against Genoa, while Diego Farias (two goals) and Kevin Agudelo remain pretty much on the same level for the final spot in the front-line. Tommaso Pobega had a strong stretch in early November but an injury and the good showings of Nahuel Estevez and Giulio Maggiore have made him lose minutes, but they have not been as present in the final third as he was. Left-back Simone Bastoni has been a menace and he has set up three teammates.
Recommended picks: Nzola, Gyasi, Farias/Agudelo.
Verona: their never-ending injury crisis forced them to use Ivan Ilic as no.9 and the youngster pounced on a tap-in for his first goal of the year versus Inter. Eddie Salcedo subbed off there but it was just a cut: he should spearhead the attack in this one as well given that Nikola Kalinic is not expected to be a full go. The youngster has done okay but has yet to score. Antonin Barak will be back from suspension and he is their top scorer (three goals) on a par with Mattia Zaccagni, who has picked it up lately and also provided three assists in the year. Same tally for the quality left-back Federico Dimarco. They are trying to get Darko Lazovic going and he can be used in a couple of spots, which could impact either Dimarco’s playing time or Barak’s role.
Recommended picks: Zaccagni, Barak, Salcedo.
Do you have what it takes to challenge the best Serie A Fantasy Managers? If you’re for it play fantasyseriea.com!
To leave a comment, you must be logged into www.eurofantasyleague.com