JUVENTUS-BENEVENTO
Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo heaped misery on Cagliari in the past match with his first hat-trick of the season, moving to 23 goals in the campaign. Federico Chiesa kept it going with an assist, his third in the last month and seventh in the campaign. He has found the target an equal amount of times. Alvaro Morata (five goals, seven assists) was a little wasteful there but he was impressive in the two prior games, as he punished both Lazio and Spezia. With Aaron Ramsey hurt and Weston McKennie hobbled, they fielded their top four attackers together, the other being Dejan Kulusevski, with excellent returns, even though the Swedish starlet has been silent bonus-wise for three months. Juan Cuadrado is suspended and his replacements as not as intriguing. Federico Bernardeschi has some minor value if he makes the XI.
Suggested picks: Ronaldo, Morata, Chiesa.
Benevento: the tough sledding continues for the Sanniti, who were outplayed by Fiorentina and bagged only a consolation goal with Artur Ionita, who found the target for the first time in the season even though he has been a regular. Gianluca Caprari (5 goals) salvaged his day with an assist, his fourth one, while Nicolas Gaich was unable to follow up the great goal he scored versus Spezia, therefore Gianluca Lapadula (4 goals, 2 assists) remains lurking. The fact that they are missing some pieces might lead to Roberto Insigne starting, but he has not been more productive than the other attackers. Sans Pasquale Schiattarella, Nicolas Viola (2/1) is poised to have a higher number of touches and he has been pretty good since coming back from injury.
Suggested picks: Caprari, Viola, Lapadula/Gaich.
SAMPDORIA-TORINO
Sampdoria: Fabio Quagliarella is picking it back up as he has hit the net once and provided an assist over the last two matches. Balde Keita is instead going in the other direction since he has misfired in the past four games, even though he has generally been pretty active and involved, so he could be due. They gave a shot to Mikkel Damsgaard, but he did not deliver, while Antonio Candreva has been held to just a couple of assists over the last eight matches, so their top options are as intriguing as they used to be. Jakub Jankto has also been quiet for some time. Manolo Gabbiadini smashed one home two weeks ago, but they are using him in small doses. Gaston Ramirez is banned, which will open up more minutes Valerio Verre, but he has not been particularly effective in his last outings. Left-back Tommaso Augello notched his third assist last week.
Suggested picks: Quagliarella, Keita, Candreva.
Torino: Andrea Belotti (11 goals, 5 assists) worked his way back from COVID and had a strong outing midweek given the circumstances, but it was Simone Zaza off the bench that spearheaded the comeback versus Sassuolo with a brace off the bench. Antonio Sanabria picked up an assist and he has collected points in each of the past three appearances, knocking it on goal twice. They are in good shape up front because also Simone Verdi and Federico Bonazzoli are bringing something to the table when called upon and they have not been shy in using all of them when necessary. Rolando Mandragora has surprisingly found the target twice in the last three matches and he has been revitalized from the fantasy standpoint by his move to the Granata. Cristian Ansaldi has provided three helpers over the last three contests. They might have back Wilfried Singo, who is a menace on the right flank.
Suggested picks: Sanabria, Belotti, Mandragora.
UDINESE-LAZIO
Udinese: after a series of assists, Rodrigo De Paul converted a PK in last fixture. His contribution has always been massive, but now also his numbers are starting to become elite as he is up to six goals and five helpers. Roberto Pereyra (3/4) is clearly his Robin and has gotten few starts in a very offensive role, while Fernando Llorente seems to have gained the upper hand over his competitors thanks to the recent goal, his first one in the season. While Walace and Tolgay Arslan do not hold much value for their gritty style, Nahuel Molina is starting to look better and better and he has already provided three assists. His emergence has also made Jens Stryger Larsen more interesting because he has more opportunities to shoot from the left flank.
Suggested picks: De Paul, Pereyra, Llorente.
Lazio: while Ciro Immobile continues to be in a funk and has not scored in five matches, Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic both made their presence felt in the Crotone game with their eighth and fifth goal of the campaign. The Serbian ace has also tossed in eight assists and has been extremely solid throughout the season. The chances have been there for the previous Serie A top scorer, so he is destined to break out, and he at least salvaged his day by setting up a teammate. Joaquin Correa did not do damage last week but he has been in strong form for a couple of months, registering two goals and one assist. Felipe Caicedo bagged his first goal since early January and he can be worth a flier as he can produce even if he does not get a lot of playing time.
Suggested picks: Milinkovic-Savic, Alberto, Correa.
FIORENTINA-MILAN
Fiorentina: Dusan Vlahovic destroyed Benevento last week and with the hat-trick he is now at 12 goals in the season, mostly coming from mid-January on. He surely made up for three silent rounds. Valentin Eysseric rounded out the score with his second goal of the season, but his playing time is uncertain since Gaetano Castrovilli (5 goals, 2 assists) has recovered. Giacomo Bonaventura (1/2) has returned as well, but he has not looked super explosive. Franck Ribery has strung together some lively performances, logging one goal and two assists over the last five matches. Erick Pulgar has recaptured a big role and he has some appeal for his set pieces and he should take care of PKs if they get one.
Suggested picks: Vlahovic, Ribery, Castrovilli/Eysseric.
Milan: the several absences hurt them against Napoli, where they tried to get something going but could not finalize. They lost Ante Rebic to a DQ, but help is on its way as Zlatan Ibrahimovic (14 goals in 14 matches) is set to be available for this one. Hakan Calhanoglu (one goal, 8 assists) is also poised to be in better shape with few more practices in his legs after the injury. Rafael Leao had not stepped up while featuring in a very prominent position, as a matter of fact he has not scored in nine appearances, but he might fare better back in his old stomping grounds on the flank and with reduced attention. Among their secondary attackers, Brahim Diaz fared better than Rade Krunic, who had hit the net versus Verona, and Samu Castillejo, while Alexis Saelemaekers has dished a couple of assists in the past month but he is often managed when the schedule gets thicker. Franck Kessie (9/1) and Theo Hernandez (4/4) will be looking for a bounce-back performance.
Suggested picks: Ibrahimovic, Kessie, Calhanoglu.
ROMA-NAPOLI
Roma: they laid a big egg against Parma considering that they are usually excellent against the minnows. The absences of Jordan Veretout Henrikh Mkhitaryan are surely meaningful but are only partial justification as they surely still have the means to do better. Edin Dzeko has not showed well since coming back from injury and also Borja Mayoral has struck out, so they are lacking production out of the pivotal center-forward spot. It has been a while since one of their attackers found the target. Lorenzo Pellegrini (4 goals, 6 assists) recently picked up a helper, while Pedro and El Shaarawy have done better in Europa League than in Serie A. Despite their recent subpar performances, they and Dzeko inevitably remain on the fantasy radar for their prominence. Leonardo Spinazzola (2/4) has actually been their last contributor to hit paydirt.
Suggested picks: Pellegrini, Spinazzola, Dzeko.
Napoli: a goal by Matteo Politano, his eighth of the season, proved to be enough to top Milan thanks to stingy defending. Dries Mertens scored right away upon returning two matches ago, the same thing Victor Osimhen did in the previous round, but now the two are going to split time and that is suboptimal for fantasy owners. Lorenzo Insigne and Piotr Zielinski have been their top guys lately as the former has tallied four goals in the past six matches, the later instead two goals and four assists in the last five. Hirving Lozano (9 goals, 2 helpers) should be back from injury and he is immediately an option given how well the other players fared in the same situation. Diego Demme partakes to the offense more than Tiemoué Bakayoko, but he and Fabian Ruiz are only midrange alternatives.
Suggested picks: Insigne, Zielinski, Osimhen/Mertens.
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