VERONA-LAZIO
Verona: Antonin Barak returned to the stat-sheet after four matches in the Cagliari game, scoring his seventh goal of the years (plus two assists), while Kevin Lasagna rounded out the score late. The Italian striker, who recorded his fourth goal, always has some chances but is not the clutchest player. Miguel Veloso posted his second assist of the campaign, Daniel Bessa his first. Mattia Zaccagni (6 goals, 5 assists) continues to be quiet as he has not picked up offensive bonuses since late January. They always rely a lot on their flank game: Darko Lazovic (2/4) has been their most productive player there lately, but Marco Davide Faraoni (2/6) and Federico Dimarco (4/3) are not too shabby either.
Suggested picks: Barak, Lasagna, Lazovic.
Lazio: Felipe Caicedo saved the day from the bench against Spezia, nailing a PK for his eighth goal of the year. He has strong chances to start in this one because Joaquin Correa is suspended and Vedat Muriqi has mostly been unconvincing. With Ciro Immobile (14/4) striking out in the last six games, despite remaining very involved, Caicedo is currently their most dangerous striker. Manuel Lazzari scored but was then sent off, so they will lean more on Adam Marusic (2/3) in this one, while Senad Lulic and Mohamed Fares are barely on the radar on the other flank. As far as their other top players are concerned, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (5/9) has taken home points in two of the past three matches, while Luis Alberto (8 goals) was clearly hobbled but did manage to play and should be able to handle more minutes one week removed from the injury. Andreas Pereira did not take advantage of his chance to fill in.
Suggested picks: Caicedo, Milinkovic-Savic, Marusic.
JUVENTUS-GENOA
Juventus: offense has not been an issue in the last two games, but really for most of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo (24) found the target in both, Federico Chiesa in the Derby, plus he dished a marvelous assist midweek. The new development is the return of Paulo Dybala after three months and he netted one right away, so he will put some pressure on Alvaro Morata (7/9), who has been more feast-or-famine than at the beginning of the campaign and has picked up just two points in the last four outings. Juan Cuadrado (6 assists) has not been exactly superb but he is always a steady hand on the right flank. Their other midfielders, even those who would have some potential like Dejan Kulusevski, Weston McKennie and Aaron Ramsey, have instead not contributed much recently. Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabiot are instead timidly creeping up a little.
Suggested picks: Ronaldo, Chiesa, Dybala/Morata.
Genoa: Mattia Destro made it back to the box score after a lull, assisted by Gianluca Scamacca, who has been white hot in recent games. Given what he did before, Destro has the potential to go on another run. The coach opted to go with the two pure centre-forwards together for the first time in the season and it paid dividends, so Eldor Shomurodov (3/1) and Marko Pjaca (3/1), who have not been great for a while, could take a hit, although Davide Ballardini is not shy in using his bench. Goran Pandev (4/2) is also expected back after missing one match and he is always sneaky. Davide Zappacosta (2/2) has been a thorn on the opponent’s side for few games in a row. They will not have their linchpin Kevin Strootman in the midfield in this one, so they will have to rely more on Miha Zajc, who has not been impressed in recent outings, Milan Badelj and one back-up like Nicolò Rovella or Valon Behrami. The former would be more intriguing in the fantasy realm.
Suggested picks: Destro, Scamacca, Zappacosta.
SAMPDORIA-NAPOLI
Sampdoria: Fabio Quagliarella did it again versus Milan as he hit the next with a very foxy shot taking advantage a blunder by an opponent. With two goals and one assist in the last four games, the veteran has resumed being the epicenter of the Blucerchiati attack, especially because Balde Keita has lost a lot of steam. The Senegalese forward has not found paydirt over the last six tilts and is ceding minutes to Manolo Gabbiadini, who however has not been particularly superb. Antonio Candreva (5/6) snapped out of a slump two matches ago and always has massive usage, while Jakub Jankto (4/3) on the other wing has not delivered since mid-January. Mikkel Damsgaard (2/4) is in a similar moment but he is way more explosive. The potential absence of two central midfielders could allow Gaston Ramirez or Valerio Verre to return to the XI.
Suggested picks: Quagliarella, Candreva, Damsgaard/Jankto.
Napoli: they rained hellfire on Crotone over the weekend and, while still faring decently, they understandably did not have as much success in the crunch match with Juventus. Lorenzo Insigne (15/5) salvaged his day with a late PK and he was the only one to grab points in both, while Dries Mertens and Victor Osimhen made the stat-sheet versus Crotone. Them starting together was likely a one-off, especially because Piotr Zielinski (6/6) has provided so much quality out of the no.10 spot. Hirving Lozano (9/2) has not been splendid in his return but it is likely just a matter of time and conditioning and he was great before the injury. They will try to get him healthy even though Matteo Politano (8/4) has filled in admirably.
Suggested picks: Insigne, Zielinski, Mertens/Osimhen.
ROMA-BOLOGNA
Roma: the woes of their strikers continued as Edin Dzeko and Borja Mayoral are struggling to turn it around, but they still bagged two goals in Sassuolo, thanks to Bruno Peres and a PK by Lorenzo Pellegrini. Jordan Veretout (10/2) made a cameo in the past match and is slated to start here and he is currently their top scorer despite his role. Pellegrini (5/6) and Leonardo Spinazzola (2/4) have been the only ones that have continued to play decently despite their recent swoon, while Stephan El Shaarawy, Pedro and Carles Perez have been more inconsistent and have not been able to fill the Henrikh Mkhitaryan-sized void. The young Spaniard, who has tallied just one goal so far, looked spry last week and could be given another shot in this one.
Suggested picks: Pellegrini, Veretout, Spinazzola.
Bologna: they created at a decent clip versus Inter, but once again the lack of a clinical striker came back to bite them. Rodrigo Palacio will return in this one, moving Musa Barrow (6/7) back to the flank, where he is more at ease. The experienced Argentinian has had a renaissance in March, notching two assists in a row. Barrow does not have supreme continuity but is always a threat to bust out a great display. Roberto Soriano (9/5) is coming off two subdued outings so he might be due this week given his profuse success throughout the season. Andreas Skov Olsen continues to see minutes, and outplay, Riccardo Orsolini on the right flank and he recently bagged his first goal of the season. Jerdy Schouten and Nicolas Dominguez seem to have gained steam over Mattias Svanberg in the midfielder, but they are not as intriguing as the Swedish youngster fantasy-wise as he is the better shooter of the lot.
Suggested picks: Palacio, Soriano, Barrow.
FIORENTINA-ATALANTA
Fiorentina: Dusan Vlahovic clocked in again even though they did not put up a lot of offense in Genoa, recording his 13th goal of the campaign, assisted by Gaetano Castrovilli (5/3), who was more active in the final third, as it happened earlier in the season. Frank Ribery is suspended for this one and that is a big problem since he was in a good run of form: Valentin Eysseric (2 goals) was generally first in line to replace him with Cesare Prandelli, but Christian Kouame and Jose Maria Callejon could get a shot under Giuseppe Iachini. Giacomo Bonaventura (1/2) is getting a lot of run but he has not collected bonuses in seven tilts. Cristiano Biraghi (1/4) is fading due to a nagging injury, so they are running low on weapons in this one, given that also Erick Pulgar is disqualified.
Suggested picks: Vlahovic, Castrovilli, Bonaventura.
Atalanta: the Colombian duo powered them once again versus Udinese, with Luis Muriel netting a brace and Duvan Zapata finding paydirt once. The former has become the head of the table with his 18 goals (seven in the last eight tilts), the former is at 11, notching three, plus three helpers, in the past six. Ruslan Malinovskyi (3/6) has taken fully advantage of their tweaked formation and has balled out in the past two matches, dishing three assists and putting one past the goalkeeper. He has leapfrogged Josip Ilicic in the pecking order. Robin Gosens (9/5) could instead be a little hurt, but he was not fully fit in recent outings, so it remains to be seen. Mario Pasalic could get some run since Matteo Pessina got COVID: he plays a more tactical role and is not as attractive as the other attackers, but he is occasionally able to significantly contribute to the offense.
Suggested picks: Muriel, Zapata, Malinovskyi.
BENEVENTO-SASSUOLO
Benevento: Artur Ionita has suddenly woken up, finding the target twice in the past three matches after failing to do so in the first chunk of the season. The emergence of Adolfo Gaich (two goals in six appearances) has impacted Gianluca Caprari (5/5) the most, but he picked up an assist in the past match. He will continue competing with the Argentinian starlet and Gianluca Lapadula (4/2), who has not made the stat-sheet since late January but whose dirty work is greatly appreciated by the coach. Nicolas Viola (2/2) is losing some shine because of imperfect physical positions and the fact that Pasquale Schiattarella is in good form. Riccardo Improta is back on the radar now that he features in a more dynamic role.
Suggested picks: Gaich, Ionita, Caprari/Lapadula.
Sassuolo: they put up a fight against both Roma and Inter despite the key absences. The big winner of their injury crisis has been Hamed Traore, who hit the net in both instances, but he is suspended for this one. Francesco Caputo (11/5) has better chances to return than Domenico Berardi (11/4), probably they would prefer the opposite since Giacomo Raspadori has been okay in relief and bagged a late equalizer against the Giallorossi. Filip Djuricic has provided two assists in a row, Brian Oddei notched one over the weekend and he could get the nod here, while Lukas Haraslin has mostly been lackluster in his cameos. Jeremie Boga had some opportunities but squandered them. He should improve with more minutes and the potential is surely there. Maxime Lopez took on more responsibilities and has looked more involved in the offense sans Manuel Locatelli.
Suggested picks: Djuricic, Raspadori/Caputo, Boga.
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