GENOA-BOLOGNA
Genoa: Eldor Shomurodov slotted home his second goal of the season against Sassuolo, but it was not enough to take home points. The Uzbek forward has been going strong in the last three matches, while the stocks of Gianluca Scamacca are plummeting since he did not exploit the start there and Marco Destro has found the target twice in the past three rounds. Paolo Ghiglione dished his fourth assist of the campaign but his playing time has been spotty since Davide Zappacosta returned. Technical midfielders Miha Zajc and Nicolò Rovella have a more consistent role under Davide Ballardini, but they have yet to produce. Marko Pjaca has hit the net three times, but their front-line is all of a sudden pretty loaded, so it is a matter of playing time.
Recommended picks: Destro, Shomurodov, Ghiglione/Zappacosta.
Bologna: their fantasy leader Roberto Soriano is slowing down a little as he has scored just once in the last six matches, but their other contributors are rising as Musa Barrow and Riccardo Orsolini both dished an assist versus Udinese: the Gambian striker had found the target three games back, while it was the second helper in a row for the Italian winger. The coach hinted that Emanuel Vignato will get a spot start, but it remains to be seen replacing whom since he is very versatile. Matthias Svanberg scored midweek but then got sent off: Nicolas Dominguez has been solid in recent performances, but the role is a tad constraining. Takehiro Tomiyasu is back to being a weapon as right-back and he too hit paydirt in the most recent tilt.
Recommended picks: Barrow, Orsolini, Soriano.
PARMA-LAZIO
Parma: the Ducali have recalled Roberto D’Aversa, who will provide more stability but is unlikely to have a magic wand to solve all their issues, especially the scoring ones, while the defense should benefit immediately. To add to their troubles, Yann Karamoh got hurt in the past game and Juraj Kucka is injured as well, so, if they opt to advance a midfielder to fill in rather than go with inexperienced players, it will be Jasmin Kurtic. Otherwise, Juan Brunetta and Valentin Mihaila will both have a big role. Andreas Cornelius has done nothing so far, but he was quite good last year under the same manager. Hernani has notched three goals and two assists thus far. Gervinho (four goals) will be a late call but he would be top of the list if able to return.
Recommended picks: Kurtic, Hernani, Cornelius.
Lazio: Ciro Immobile played and delivered again versus Fiorentina despite some late concern about an injury: he has failed to score just once in his last 12 appearances. Felipe Caicedo returned to the stat-sheet after a four game-absence and he is absorbing most of the playing time left open by the injured Joaquin Correa: he is now at five goals. No bonuses for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto but they both had a strong outing and they both have been to pick up some recently, the Spaniard more than the Serbian tank. Adam Marusic (three assists) and Manuel Lazzari (one goal, two assists) have been the lone contributors outside of their top four players.
Recommended picks: Immobile, Caicedo, Alberto.
VERONA-CROTONE
Verona: they are not scoring a lot, and the unproductivity of their strikers is the main reason why, but they apparently only bag tremendous goal as Federico Dimarco followed up Mattia Zaccagni’s gem with a stunner of his own. It was his first goal, but he has been a constant contributor and he has provided three assists, plus Darko Lazovic is banged up at the moment, so he is poised to continue having a big role. Crotone have been sieve-like in the last two rounds and so it could finally be time for Nikola Kalinic to find his first goal of the campaign. With the forwards sputtering, Zaccagni (four goals, five assists) and Antonin Barak (three goals) have carried most of the load.
Recommended picks: Zaccagni, Kalinic, Dimarco.
Crotone: the Squali are not putting up much of a fight against the top teams, but their top player Junior Messias has stayed afloat in the first two matches of 2021 with two assists, while Vladimir Golemic has been an unlikely contributor with two consecutive goals. They are rotating the center-forwards Simy and Emmanuel Riviere but neither has looked particularly good, so their other top options remain Salvatore Molina (one goal, four assists) and Arkadiusz Reca (one score, five helpers), at least until Ahmad Benali manages to return and play full minutes.
Recommended picks: Messias, Molina, Reca.
FIORENTINA-CAGLIARI
Fiorentina: they got beat by Lazio but they had a decent late push that allowed Dusan Vlahovic to draw and convert a PK, thus hitting paydirt for the fourth time in the past five contests. On the other hand, Franck Ribery picked up a small knee injury and Gaetano Castrovilli will be suspended for this one, so they will have to rejigger their formation without their two main reference points. Giacomo Bonaventura is poised to have a major role, while either José Callejon or Christian Kouame could resurface, unless they continue to give minutes to the underwhelming Valentin Eysseric. Cristiano Biraghi has scored once and provided five assists.
Recommended picks: Vlahovic, Bonaventura, Biraghi.
Cagliari: Eusebio Di Francesco gave a significant role right away to Radja Nainggolan, who had a solid first half and then run out of juice. However, Nahitan Nandez was red carded and therefore the XI could change again. Riccardo Sottil is likely to be back in the XI and the same goes for Giovanni Simeone, who is rotating pretty much systematically with Leonardo Pavoletti. The Italian striker has fared better than El Cholito in this new situation. Joao Pedro added one more to his tally (10 goals) and has been pretty much their only saving grace amidst the crisis and he has hit the net four times in the last three matches. Charalampos Lykogiannis (two goals) will be back from suspension. Gaston Pereiro could have a decent role if Adam Ounas remains sidelined, but he has not showed much so far this season due to an injury.
Recommended picks: Pedro, Sottil, Simeone/Pavoletti.
SPEZIA-SAMPDORIA
Spezia: the Bianconeri bounced back in an unlikely spot thanks to the heroics of their star M’Bala Nzola, who made the most of his limited opportunities by burying a PK and creating the action that led to Tommaso Pobega’s tap-in. The striker is not at eight goals, the midfielder at three, atop of the club’s chart in terms of scorers. Among their other attackers, Emmanuel Gyasi has been busy with four assists, while Diego Farias found the target once but all three, including Kevin Agudelo, have let something on the table. Riccardo Saponara could become a sneaky factor if he garners meaningful playing time as he put up decent numbers at Lecce in the second half of last season.
Recommended picks: Nzola, Pobega, Gyasi.
Sampdoria: coach Claudio Ranieri shook things up in the Inter game and got rewarded as Balde Keita netted a great goal, his second in five appearances and Mikkel Damsgaard looked good as second striker, dishing a great assist for the teammate, his third of the campaign. Antonio Candreva then converted a PK to find paydirt for the second time in the year, plus he has furnished four assists. They are unlikely to all in a sudden turn into Atalanta but, factoring in Fabio Quagliarella (seven goals), Valerio Verre (two scores, two helpers) and Jakub Jankto (four/two), they do have a lot of quality in the front-line. The veteran is being managed, and Keita has been only in his place so far, but should be back in the XI in this one.
Recommended picks: Quagliarella/Keita, Candreva, Jankto/Damsgaard.
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