Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 18 – Remaining Games

BOLOGNA-VERONA

Bologna: they could not find a way around the not-so-vaunted Genoa rearguard in the past match, with their attack failing to deliver for the fourth game in a row, given that their recent goals have come from Takehiro Tomiyasu (two), Nehuen Paz and Matthias Svanberg. Roberto Soriano, one of the early fantasy leaders, has found the target just once in the seven matches and has not been able to dish helpers either in that stretch, however he remains the top players in both categories (six/four). The other attackers have instead been able to take part in the teammate’s goals, Riccardo Orsolini in particular with two recent assists, but also Musa Barrow and Rodrigo Palacio, but they obviously need to start scoring to become real fantasy assets. As always, Barrow is the biggest threat, but they will face a really stifling defense in this one. Emanuel Vignato and Andreas Skov Olsen have not exploited their recent minutes.

Recommended picks: Soriano, Barrow, Orsolini.

Verona: Nikola Kalinic netted his first goal of the season versus Crotone and he could be streaky now, as the Scaligeri tend to always create few chances, but have had not a real finalizer up to this point; provided he stays healthy, the Croatian international could be just that. His resurgence is likely going to hurt Eddie Salcedo and Samuel Di Carmine, while Ebrima Colley and Andrea Favilli, when healthy, have been pretty good off the bench. Federico Dimarco has scored two bangers in a row, taking full advantage of his increased playing times because of Darko Lazovic’s physical problems and he had been faring well even before he started finding the target. Both their fantasy leaders Mattia Zaccagni (five goals, four assists) and Antonin Barak (two/three) stayed busy by teeing up teammates in the past round. Marco Davide Faraoni has done in three times in the season.

Recommended picks: Kalinic, Zaccagni, Dimarco.

 

TORINO-SPEZIA

Torino: they had troubles getting anything going in the Milan game, where Simone Verdi arguably had the better performance among their offensive players. They have benefitted from some extemporaneous goals lately, coming from Armando Izzo, Bremer and Wilfred Singo, while Andrea Belotti has not hit the net in the past five games, his longest scoreless stretch of the season, but nobody else has really stepped up. Verdi has one goal and two assists in the season, while Sasa Lukic had three early ones but he has not made a peep in a long time. Amer Gojak is getting more run, and made the stat-sheet versus Parma, but he has not been super convincing. Simone Zaza resurfaced in the past match, but Verdi has likely run away with the role next to Belotti. Wingbacks Singo and Cristian Ansaldi, if starting, have been reliable sources of offense.

Recommended picks: Belotti, Verdi, Singo.

Spezia: another game, another goal for M’Bala Nzola who, with two PKs in the span of four days, but unfortunately he got hurt and will have to miss this one. Roberto Piccoli and Andrej Galabinov are slated to see higher usage, but they are certainly not as palatable as the missing teammate. Their wingers, Emmanuel Gyasi (one goal, four assists), Diego Farias (two goals) and Kevin Agudelo, have always pretty lively, especially Farias, but not super clutch. Therefore, their second leading scorer remains Tommaso Pobega, who punished Napoli midweek. Nahuel Estevez is likely due as he has been stringing together one convincing performance after another and he generally always some good attempts in each match. Sneaky playmakers Simone Bastoni and Matteo Ricci are looking to be cleared from the COVID protocol: their replacements Riccardo Marchizza and Lucien Agoume have been fine but not as proficient.

Recommended picks: Pobega, Farias, Piccoli. 

 

SAMPDORIA-UDINESE

Sampdoria: Balde Keita’s inconsistency reared its ugly head in the Spezia contest, as he followed up a great showing versus Inter, where he made the stat-sheet for the second time in the season despite missing several matches, with a dud. Fabio Quagliarella (seven goals) is likely to be back in the XI after two matches where he begun on the bench, especially because Jakub Jankto is suspended, forcing some adjustments. Following two games as no.10, which he exploited providing his third assist of the year, Mikkel Damsgaard will likely go back to the flank, opening a spot there for either Keita, Valerio Verre (two goals, two helpers) or Gaston Ramirez, who has been very quiet so far this season. Antonio Candreva has stepped it up after a squabble with the coach, finding the target twice and setting up one teammate in the last four appearances.

Recommended picks: Candreva, Quagliarella, Damsgaard.

Udinese: Kevin Lasagna delivered against Napoli for the second time in recent rounds, but he and also Roberto Pereyra, who played as attacking midfielder due to their offensive absences, left a lot on the table in the Napoli clash. That could be the solution again, even though Gerard Deulofeu is trending positively from his injury and could give them another option, although he has not done much so far this season. Rodrigo De Paul has kept up his level of performances but bonuses have been lacking as he has not made the stat-sheet in the past six matches, even though he remains a huge playmaker. Pereyra (four assists) had scored for the first time in the year in the previous game. Marvin Zeegelaar and Jens Stryger Larsen, but also their midfielders Tolgay Arslan and Rolando Mandragora, are only secondary options.

Recommended picks: Lasagna, Pereyra, De Paul. 

 

CROTONE-BENEVENTO

Crotone: they hanged tough in the Verona game and managed to score with the usual Junior Messias (six goals, four assists), however they lost anyway and will be undermanned because Salvatore Molina will miss a month with a fracture, while Arkadiusz Reca is suspended, therefore they their two other best players in this one. While they are hoping for some good news from Ahmad Benali and Luca Cigarini, and the former would immediately have a major role if able to return, they are set to lean more on Milos Vulic’s creativity in the midfield, while Andrea Rispoli, who is pretty dynamic but has not seen many minutes so far this season, should replace Reca. Their strikers Simy and Emmanuel Riviere are both getting some run, but they have not been credible threats.

Recommended picks: Messias, Vulic, Simy/Riviere.

Benevento: they kept it tight with some time for Atalanta until the opponents inevitably pulled away in the score. Marco Sau made the stat-sheet for the second round in a row and the third in the season, taking advantage of the fact that Gianluca Caprari was a late scratch. Caprari and Sau have been their only forwards to make noise recently as their other goals have come from defenders. Gianluca Lapadula remains stuck in a slump and also his number of chances is decreasing, but he remains the head of the fish. Riccardo Improta has returned to a more attacking position after a stint as right-back, increasing his value. Roberto Insigne (three goals, two assists) has been a decent weapon: his playing time is not super secure, but he generally gets the nod in easier matches when they are more proactive. Gaetano Letizia is poised to be out.

Recommended picks: Sau, Insigne, Lapadula.

 

SASSUOLO-PARMA

Sassuolo: it did not lead to points, but Hamed Traore and Gregoire Defrel stepped up in the Juventus clash, combining for a lovely goal that kept them alive in the second half. Roberto De Zerbi oddly did not start Jeremie Boga in that game, and he did not sub in well, in any case every attacker gets increased usage with Domenico Berardi on the mend. Defrel had not hit bullseye since late September, while the starlet has pretty much their most consistent player lately, recording two goals and one assist in the past six matches, where he has thoroughly outplayed Filip Djuricic, who is a funk. Francesco Caputo followed up the slump-busting goal versus Parma with three quiet outings and his minutes are still being managed carefully: he is clearly not the same force of nature he was at the beginning of the season (five goals, three helpers in five matches), but he is likely bound to bounce back once he will have his legs fully underneath him. He and Boga, who picked up six points two matches ago, could break out in any moment.

Recommended picks: Traore, Boga, Caputo.

Parma: Roberto D’Aversa had only a handful of days to work with the players and therefore the situation did not change a whole lot in his first match back, plus they were facing a challenging opponent like Lazio. They have scored just once in their last six matches, with Juraj Kucka, who is currently trying to recover from an injury. The coach hinted that he is not particularly prone to relying on unproven youngsters at this stage, which does not bode well for Juan Brunetta and Valentin Mihaila, but he might not have an alternative if Kucka does not return because Hernani is suspended and Jasmin Kurtic, who featured as attacker in the past game, could be needed in the midfield. As a minimum, either Simon Sohm or Wylan Cyprien will get the nod here. Gervinho remains their linchpin with four goals, but coming in just two matches due to two braces, while Andreas Cornelius and Roberto Inglese are still looking for their first one, but there is not much fantasy appeal to go around elsewhere and they play the most important position.

Recommended picks: Gervinho, Kurtic, Cornelius.

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