BENEVENTO-CAGLIARI
Benevento: they were easily stymied by Milan last week and held scoreless for the first time in three games, where Gianluca Lapadula (2 goals) and Nicolas Viola (2 goals, one assist) had carried them. The coach went back to a more proactive scheme in the past game, giving Iago Falque a shot, who was okay. The Spaniard has a high upside given his past numbers, but he has been unable to stay healthy this year. Also Riccardo Improta, Gianluca Caprari, and Roberto Insigne would benefit if the modification stuck: Caprari has the highest ceiling in the bunch, having tallied five goals and five assists, but a nagging injury has limited him in recent games. Adolfo Gaich instead would drastically lose steam and resume alternating with Lapadula, who is better form right now.
Suggested picks: Lapadula, Viola, Falque/Caprari.
Cagliari: they pulled a fast one against Napoli as Joao Pedro was completely spared versus Napoli since he was one yellow card away from disqualification and they needed him for this game. He has hit the net in two straight appearances, improving to 15 goals in the season, plus he has dished three total assists. They still tied versus the Partenopei, where Nahitan Nandez came through in the stoppage time with his second goal of the campaign on Alfred Duncan’s first assist. They will also welcome back Razvan Marin from suspension: he scored twice and set up two teammates in his last three appearances. They are in pretty decent shape offensively even though Leonardo Pavoletti has not found the target in three games and Radja Nainggolan in six. Gabriele Zappa rattled the woodwork in the past game, but he may not get the start in this one given the returns and some rejiggering across the formation.
Suggested picks: Pedro, Marin, Nandez.
VERONA-TORINO
Verona: Eddie Salcedo surely made his case to be a regular with his second goal in the last three matches versus Spezia. His gain would be Antonin Barak’s loss as he is forced to move to a less offensive position when the youngster plays. The Czech midfielder has posted seven goals and two assists thus far but has been rather quiet in the last two months, picking up points just once. The same goes for Mattia Zaccagni (6 goals, 5 assists). Darko Lazovic is instead coming off his fifth helper of the season as the flank game, also powered by Federico Dimarco (4/3) and Marco Davide Faraoni (2/7), continues to propel them while the attacking midfielders lag. Kevin Lasagna has not hit the net in five contests.
Suggested picks: Salcedo/Barak, Lazovic, Faraoni.
Torino: an unlikely contributor willed them to victory against Parma as Mergim Vojvoda registered his first goal on a tremendous solo action and square ball by Cristian Ansaldi, who logged his fifth assist. Antonio Sanabria (8/1) has surely relented after a sizzling start, having found paydirt in just one of the last five matches, while Andrea Belotti (12/6) has done it once in the past ten, but Simone Zaza (6 goals) has not performed consistently enough to really threaten them. They will get a boost with the returns from the disqualification of Rolando Mandragora (3/1) and Simone Verdi (1/4), who are key pieces in their design and meaningful parts of their offense. The former has been oddly more inclined to pick up bonuses than the latter.
Suggested picks: Sanabria/Belotti, Mandragora, Ansaldi.
PARMA-ATALANTA
Parma: they were stingier than usual against Torino, but that came at the expense of their offense, which did not create a lot. The simultaneous absences of Dennis Man and Valentin Mihaila surely remove a lot of pace and oomph, and they have to rely more on Gervinho (5/1), who is not the same explosive player he used to be, and the more plodding Andreas Cornelius (one goal and four assists in the last seven matches) and Juraj Kucka (7/2). There is hope Mihaila will maybe able to make a cameo in this one. Hernani is suspended this week, so they will lean more on Jasmin Kurtic (4 goals), who has not produced in five matches. Juan Francisco Brunetta could be worth a flier if starting. Giuseppe Pezzella (1/4) has grown into a pretty substantial factor on offense.
Suggested picks: Cornelius, Gervinho, Kucka.
Atalanta: the Sassuolo match quickly turned in the wrong direction for them, but they still salvaged a point as Robin Gosens returned to the stat-sheet after six matches to reach the double-digit threshold, and Ruslan Malinovskyi kept it up with an assist (6/10), taking home bonuses for the seventh consecutive game. Duvan Zapata and Luis Muriel were victims of the circumstance but have generally abated compared to their supernova stretch: the powerhouse (14/7) has hit the net once in the past four games, the slippery second-striker (19/7) once in the last four and missed a PK in the last contest. However, they will be in a divine spot to bounce back given the already mathematical relegation of the Ducali. Josip Ilicic (6/8) will have some value if given decent minutes, which is no longer a guarantee.
Suggested picks: Malinovskyi, Zapata/Muriel, Gosens.
ROMA-CROTONE
Roma: they ended up being shut down by Sampdoria, although they had two disallowed goals, and Edin Dzeko got denied from the penalty spot, so their offensive production was decent. The partnership with Borja Mayoral (8/2) worked out just fine and could be re-utilized depending on the absences and some rotation in other roles. Lorenzo Pellegrini (5/6) will surely be back after missing one with personal reasons: he has last scored four games back. Henrikh Mkhitaryan (9/8) has shown some flashes but last found the target in January; he is still worth deploying for his importance in their design. They at least recovered Pedro, who however has not really balled out in his most recent performances. With Lorenzo Spinazzola ailing, Rick Karsdorp (1/5) and Bruno Pers (1/2) earn some more appeal. Even Javier Pastore might resurface, but he has had a poor season to be kind.
Suggested picks: Mayoral, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan.
Crotone: it took the best defense in the League to engulf them, and Simy struck out for the second time in the past three matches. He had a brace in between, though, and he has been going like gangbusters from March on. In the supporting cast, Adam Ounas (3/2) has been more effective than Junior Messias (8/4), as the latter has not made the stat-sheet in five games. Ahmad Benali (one assist) and Salvatore Molina (1/4) have some potential, especially should Arkadiusz Reca be sidelined, but they have not hit big in some time. Luca Cigarini has some minor value for his ability on set pieces.
Suggested picks: Simy, Ounas, Messias.
JUVENTUS-MILAN
Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo’s drought could not last much longer, and in fact, it did not as he decided the Udinese game with a brace, pulling away in the capocannoniere standings (27 goals). Alvaro Morata (9/9) has generally outplayed Paulo Dybala (3/2) even seeing fewer minutes than La Joya, who returned from injury with a bang but has not delivered in the following five matches. Federico Chiesa (8/8) was close last week and is expected to return in this one: he had reached a fantastic level of continuity before the injury. Juan Cuadrado has dished four assists in the last five contests, while Adrien Rabiot dished his second one of the year in the most recent one. Rodrigo Bentancur is timidly on the rise, and he has four helpers in the campaign. Weston McKennie (5/2) has more appeal if used in a free-roaming role than in the midfield. Dejan Kulusevski (4/1) has not been very busy in terms of bonuses, but he has come off the bench positively in recent outings.
Suggested picks: Ronaldo, Morata, Chiesa/Cuadrado.
Milan: they cruised past Benevento thanks to Hakan Calhanoglu’s (8 assists) second goal in the past three rounds, and fourth total in the season, and Theo Hernandez’s return to the box-score after three months, but he had teed up a teammate lately. Now that two of their top weapons are fully back, they will be hoping Zlatan Ibrahimovic (15/2) will be able to recapture his early-season continuity as he has found the target just once in the last six matches; Franck Kessie instead has not knocked it on goal in the past four. Ante Rebic (7/3) and Rafael Leao (6/5) have resumed alternating and, while not in brilliant form, the Croatian forward has looked better than the teammate lately. Alexis Saelemaekers has provided two helpers in the past three contests to improve to four in the campaign, and his role seems to be constantly growing.
Suggested picks: Calhanoglu, Ibrahimovic, Hernandez.
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