SPEZIA-NAPOLI
Spezia: it seems like the Aquilotti always get pretty good production by their subs, and versus Verona it was Riccardo Saponara that rose to the occasion, tallying his first goal of the season. Daniele Verde (5 goals, one assist) and Diego Farias (3 goals) previously contributed in the same fashion. The starter Emmanuel Gyasi (6/5) instead has not picked up bonuses in five matches. M’Bala Nzola is suspended, which will open the door for either Roberto Piccoli (4 goals) or Andrej Galabinov (3). In the midfield, Giulio Maggiore has quieted down a little in terms of scoring (3/1), while Nahuel Estevez (3 assists) has gotten a pair of starts recently and has looked peppy.
Suggested picks: Piccoli, Verde/Saponara, Maggiore.
Napoli: Victor Osimhen did it again in the Cagliari game, hitting the net for the third time in a row and the fifth in the most recent five matches. It looks like he is going to feature more than Dries Mertens (9/8), who still had his moments off the bench but takes a hit if not starting consistently. Lorenzo Insigne stayed hot with his sixth assist of the season (plus 17 goals): he has made the stat-sheet in four of the last eight matches. Matteo Politano has lost some consistency but is still outplaying Hirving Lozano, who has not hit big since returning from injury but will not fall out of the picture. Piotr Zielinski (6/8) has set up two teammates in the last four contests.
Suggested picks: Osimhen, Insigne, Zielinski.
UDINESE-BOLOGNA
Udinese: Nahuel Molina scored his second straight goal versus Juventus, and he has become their proper third weapon next to Roberto Pereyra and Rodrigo De Paul. The bouncy wing-back has also recorded five assists. De Paul served his eight assist (plus eight goals), while El Tucumano has logged three helpers in the past five outings and his last goal dates back to early March. They are incredibly banged up in the front-line, and Stefano Okaka is the only fully healthy body, but he has found the target just three times thus far. Tolgay Arslan (3 goals) and Jens Stryger Larsen (2 goals) occasionally show up on offense playing off the three Argentinians.
Suggested picks: De Paul, Pereyra, Molina.
Bologna: Rodrigo Palacio and Emanuel Vignato had an incredible performance versus Fiorentina as the former put together a hat-trick while the youngsters dished three assists. The veteran striker had hit the net just once in the season, but he had generally been pretty good in recent outings, dishing few assists (4 total). Vignato instead is surely a candidate to see more playing time down the stretch, but he plays in the same position as their stars Roberto Soriano (9/6) and Musa Barrow (8/8), so it is quite tricky unless they move Soriano to the pivot like they did last week as they had some absences there. The Gambian forward has been more productive than the Italian midfielder in recent rounds. Riccardo Orsolini (5/3) and Andreas Skov Olsen (2/2) are both worth a flier, but neither has clearly separated himself from the other. Mattias Svanberg (4/4) has tailed off pretty substantially after a very positive stretch.
Suggested picks: Palacio, Barrow, Vignato/Soriano.
INTER-SAMPDORIA
Inter: clinching the title and the busy schedule will likely affect their XI, but probably will not impact Romelu Lukaku in this one, who contributed with an assist, his tenth of the season, in the last game. Both he and Lautaro Martinez have quite surprisingly not scored in five contests, where their attack has not produced a lot as a whole. Christian Eriksen instead has done it twice in the past four matches, Achraf Hakimi hit paydirt in the most recent round and also teed up two teammates in the past five, improving to seven goals and six assists in the season. Stefano Sensi did not make the stat-sheet but was very lively in the last game, and he, Alexis Sanchez (5/6), and Andrea Pinamonti are candidates to get more minutes now. Marcelo Brozovic furnished his first assist in quite some time in the Crotone game, his sixth total in 2020/2021. Ivan Perisic (3/4) and Matteo Darmian (3/2) are both on the radar, depending on who gets the start.
Suggested picks: Lukaku, Hakimi, Sanchez/Martinez.
Sampdoria: Fabio Quagliarella did not play for the second game in a row against Roma, but his teammates came through nonetheless as Adrien Silva bagged his first goal of the season, while Jakub Jankto registered his sixth. Valerio Verre took advantage of the opportunity to start and provided an assist, while Mikkel Damsgaard (2/4) again did not despite being picked over Antonio Candreva. They may decide to lean more on the youngsters rather than on their known commodities at this point. Quagliarella (11/1) was in a positive stretch before the physical hiccup, while Jankto has outperformed Candreva (5/6) in recent tilts as the Italian winger has not picked up offensive points in six matches. Manolo Gabbiadini has been a moderate threat with two goals and two assists in the last nine games and is getting more consistent minutes than anybody else, while Balde Keita continues to be rather silent despite a pair of encouraging displays.
Suggested picks: Jankto, Gabbiadini, Quagliarella/Verre.
FIORENTINA-LAZIO
Fiorentina: to nobody’s surprise, Dusan Vlahovic continues to ball out and added two more goals to his tally in the Bologna match, bringing it to 19, with ten coming in the last eight fixtures. Giacomo Bonaventura hit the net twice in the last three appearances, and recently the coach went with just one offensive-minded midfielder in the lineup, either him or Gaetano Castrovilli (5/3), who last took home a bonus about a month ago. Erick Pulgar tallied an assist thanks to a sharp corner kick, and he is always a menace on set pieces, but Vlahovic has inevitably taken on PK duties. Franck Ribery had to leave the last game early due to a knock, but it looks like he might be able to recover in time. However, he has been pretty quiet in the last three performances after some major flashes in March and early April. Lorenzo Venuti is coming off his first helper of the year, and he has been fielded with good continuity.
Suggested picks: Vlahovic, Bonaventura, Pulgar.
Lazio: they too leaned on their starts to down Genoa, as Joaquin Correa put together the second straight brace and now has eight goals in the season, Ciro Immobile has rediscovered his Golden Boot touch and has found the target in four straight, while Luis Alberto has notched one goal and two assists in the two most recent matches. They are simply humming offensively. The only one who did not have a meaningful contribution in the last two detonations was Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (7 goals, 10 assists), who, however, kept things afloat while the others were previously struggling. Manuel Lazzari (2/5) carries some secondary value in any round.
Suggested picks: Correa, Immobile, Luis Alberto.
GENOA-SASSUOLO
Genoa: they almost pulled off an improbable comeback against Lazio thanks to Gianluca Scamacca third goal in the last four matches and Eldor Shomurodov’s second paydirt in a row. The two young strikers have done better than Mattia Destro (11/1) in the last three games, but the coach gives everybody minutes. Goran Pandev (6/2) is back from suspension and had a brace three games back, so basically, Marko Pjaca has been their only attacker who has not really produced. Kevin Strootman and Miha Zajc both provided an assist in the last month: the former is at four in the season, the latter at three. Davide Zappacosta (2/2) continues to be a problem for opposing defenses, while some injuries could open up decent minutes for Paolo Ghiglione (4 helpers), who is not as well-rounded but very solid offensively.
Suggested picks: Scamacca, Shomurodov, Pandev.
Sassuolo: Domenico Berardi buried a PK to tie the Atalanta game and extended his rampage as he has logged four goals and one assist in four games since returning from an injury. Giacomo Raspadori looked pretty limited in his first game, and the same could be the case here for Francesco Caputo (11/5), who is expected back after a lengthy absence. The youngster should quickly supplant Gregoire Defrel if fully healthy as the Frenchman has been rather underwhelming, while Raspadori has bagged three goals in the past six appearances. Filip Djuricic (5/4) saw a weird day off in the past round, and if that were the case again, Hamed Traore (5/1) would gain a ton of relevance. Jeremie Boga (3/2) has not really turned the corner despite staying healthy for a prolonged run for the first time in the campaign. Manuel Locatelli (3/1) and Maxime Lopez (2 goals) are fringe options.
Suggested picks: Berardi, Raspadori, Djuricic/Traore.
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