BOLOGNA-BENEVENTO
Bologna: the time and effort put into turning Musa Barrow into a striker is starting to pay off as the youngster resurfaced after some quiet rounds with a clinical brace versus Parma. He now has five goals in the season. The move is working out also because Nicola Sansone has been very solid out on the left wing after shaking off an injury and he is coming off his best outing of the season as he dished two assist last week. Roberto Soriano (six goals, five helpers) also picked up offensive bonuses after a while as he set up Riccardo Orsolini, who came off the bench but still delivered. He is clearly on the rise as he has hit the net twice in the last four matches, on top of furnishing strong performances. Nicolas Dominguez should have an increased role with Mattias Svanberg suspended and Takehiro Tomiyasu is worth a flier now that it looks like he is going to stay at right-back.
Recommended picks: Barrow, Orsolini, Sansone.
Benevento: Gianluca Caprari ended his slump with a lucky goal versus Sampdoria, finding the target for the fifth time in the season. They are never going to be the most explosive side, but are surely better off when their strikers are producing and Gianluca Lapadula had hit paydirt in the previous match. They will be down two starters in the midfield in this one as Riccardo Improta and Arturo Ionita are suspended, which could lead to Pasquale Schiattarella and Nicolas Viola both starting together and the latter featuring in an aggressive role. He has very high ceiling thanks to his free-kick prowess. Roberto Insigne (two goals, three assists) is now fully healthy an is an okay secondary weapon. Marco Sau and Nicolas Gaich will likely see some action off the bench, which caps their value even though the former has been fairly prolific thus far.
Recommended picks: Lapadula, Caprari, Viola.
TORINO-GENOA
Torino: they had an incredible comeback versus Atalanta, where Andrea Belotti bagged his 11th goal of the season, although it was partly negated by the missed PK and Federico Bonazzoli re-emerged with a late goal. Simone Zaza is probably going to retain the starting job, especially thanks to his early brace once Davide Nicola took over, but they can only benefit from other attackers having success. Simone Verdi is coming off the bench as well, but he picked up two assists in the last two matches, so he could see his role increase. The acquisition of Rolando Mandragora moved Tomas Rincon to box-to-box, but he is unlikely to become a fantasy asset given his gritty style, while Sasa Lukic and Karol Linetty, who have not really been on the radar in a long while, will probably take a hit due to reduced playing time. Young prodigy Wilfred Singo has been one of their top weapons throughout his break-out campaign.
Recommended picks: Belotti, Zaza, Singo.
Genoa: they lost Eldor Shomurodov close to the past game, but Goran Pandev picked up the slack in glorious fashion as he single-handedly downed Napoli with a brace, making the shat-sheet for the first time since the opener. As a logical result, he will be top option to make the XI again if the Uzbek does not recover, as Marko Pjaca is banged up as well and Gianluca Scamacca is too similar to Mattia Destro, who did not score for just the third time in the past nine matches. Miha Zajc showed up again, this time with an assist and he has been steady in the recent stretch, while the suspension of Milan Badelj could allow Nicolò Rovella to start. Davide Zappacosta and Lennart Czyborra have formed a very energetic pair wing-backs ever since Davide Ballardini took over and both have hauled in bonus points here and there.
Recommended picks: Destro, Zajc, Pandev/Shomurodov.
SAMPDORIA-FIORENTINA
Sampdoria: Balde Keita bagged a sweet goal versus Benevento, his fourth in the last six weeks, establishing himself as their most reliable forward as of late, as Fabio Quagliarella has not found the target since late December and is ceding playing time to Ernesto Torregrossa, who debuted with a forceful header but was quiet in the past match. Mikkel Damsgaard dished a lovely assist, but it remains to be seen whether the coach will fully unleash him as he has generally picked the veterans Antonio Candreva and Jakub Jankto over him on the flanks, with decent returns as the Italian winger has notched four goals and four assists, the Czech one instead three and two. Therefore, the Dane’s upside is capped by his bench role, but that could change in a hurry as Claudio Ranieri has been quite unpredictable with his lineup choices. Gaston Ramirez and Valerio Verre can not really be trusted for lack of minutes. Tommaso Augello is the only player with some value out of their supporting cast thanks to his crossing.
Recommended picks: Keita, Candreva, Jankto/Damsgaard.
Fiorentina: it was a frustrating day for them against Inter due to the caliber of the opponent and the fact that Frank Ribery was ruled out late. They had just a pair of attempts with Giacomo Bonaventura trying to lead the way but he was denied by the opposing goalie. Bonaventura is on the up-and-up, while Dusan Vlahovic has cooled off a little, scoring just once in the last four games, but he is by far their biggest threat and he has been dialed in since mid-December. The same can not be said for Gaetano Castrovilli, who is a key cog in their design but has not had much fantasy success in months. Cristiano Biraghi (one goal, four assists) continues to be a nice weapon. Ribery is out again but his back-up Valentin Eysseric has done anything of note so far, surely Jose Callejon, Christian Kouame or Aleksandar Kokorin would have more appeal but it does not look like the coach will go in those directions.
Recommended picks: Vlahovic, Bonaventura, Castrovilli.
CROTONE-SASSUOLO
Crotone: they played a decent half versus Milan, but then they came apart in the back, as it has happened so may times in the season. Their star Junior Messias (six goals, two assists) will be available in this one and it will be interesting to see whether they will immediately use him alongside Adam Ounas, who looked pretty exuberant in the last game, as they can both be used in a supporting role not just as pure strikers. Simy is now being challenged by Samuel Di Carmine despite scoring seven times in the season and the competition dents them both and they were are not super-duper options to begin with. Ahmad Benali might have picked up another injury, but in any case he has not made his presence felt this campaign. Arkadiusz Reca is likely to miss some time, but Andrea Rispoli makes a pretty good impersonation with his vitality on the flank. They appeal of midfielders Milos Vulic and Eduardo Henrique hinges on Benali’s health and on what tactic they use.
Recommended picks: Messias, Ounas, Di Carmine/Simy.
Sassuolo: they had another inexplicable faux pas in the past game even though they got the lead thanks to Francesco Caputo’s second goal in the span of three rounds, as the center-forward is finally rounding into shape after a lingering thigh issue. They probably lost Jeremie Boga to injury, but Domenico Berardi returned and should be ready to start in this one and he has been their rock so far, registering seven goals and four assists. Filip Djuricic has been super consistent but he too is rising back to prominence, while Hamed Traore (two goals, one helper) has lost a little bit of shine with their other cornerstones coming back and taking away part of his touches. Manuel Locatelli and Maxime Lopez are pretty good players but their role limits their value, while their fullbacks, Mert Muldur and Rogerio in particular, have been fine but unspectacular.
Recommended picks: Caputo, Berardi, Djuricic.
VERONA-PARMA
Verona: they will not have their best man Mattia Zaccagni in this one and their attack is likely to suffer. Daniel Bessa is the most similar in terms of skills, but he has just come back from a loan spell, while Ebrima Colley is more of a finisher than a creator and he recently bagged his first Serie A goal. The experiment that saw Kevin Lasagna and Nikola Kalinic featuring together is going to be short-lived as the latter picked up an injury. Marco Davide Faraoni is also suspended, but in this case the solution is easier as they can just move Darko Lazovic to the right flank and Federico Dimarco to wing-back. Playing as center-back was not working out anyway for Dimarco, who fares much better when he has the greenlight to attack: he has three goals and two assists in the year, while Lazovic has not been as good as last season due to multiple physical problems. Without Zaccagni, they will lean more on Antonin Barak (four goals, one assist) and they really use Miguel Veloso from a creative standpoin, but it is not a certainty he will be ready to play after an injury.
Recommended picks: Barak, Dimarco, Lasagna.
Parma: despite the fact that they added several offensive pieces in the January window, they went with an ultra-conservative lineup in the last game and they struck out again. They have scored just two goals in the last ten rounds, both netted by Juraj Kucka. However, they do not lack brand new options to try to get out of the slump, as Joshua Zirkzee was pretty electrifying in his limited minutes and has good chances of making the XI, Dennis Man was very productive in his previous team and Valentin Mihaila was dangerous while seeing good minutes for the first time in a while. Yann Karamoh is also available, so they have weapons, but a lot will hinge on their posture. Gervinho (four goals) remains their leading scorer but he has found the target in just matches since he assembled two braces. Jasmin Kurtic is also moderately interesting but clearly the tough situation knocks everybody down a notch.
Recommended picks: Zirkzee, Kucka, Gervinho.
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