Top 5 Fantasy Serie A players for 2020/21 season

It doesn’t take a lot of guessing to figure that superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and Inter’s hero Romelu Lukaku are among the best ranked Fantasy Football players for the 2020/21 season.

Below is a list of www.eurofantasyleague.com EFL’s and www.seriea-fantasy.com top ranked players for the past season:

1) Ronaldo: Who else? The Juventus star finished as the highest ranked fantasy football player in Serie A. Ronaldo’s stats were simply extraordinary! He started 31 league games and made 2 appearances as a substitute. Cristiano scored 29 goals and provided 3 assists while receiving only 3 yellow cards for a total of 117 EFL Fantasy Points. It is hard to bet against CR7 scoring goals and plenty of them indeed! The Portuguese superstar helped Juve finish in the top four to secure a Champions League berth.

2) Lukaku: Inter’s attacker had a phenomenal season providing 24 goals and 11 assists in 32 starts in Serie A. He made a further 4 appearances as a substitute. Lukaku achieved a total of 114 EFL Points. Lukaku was one of the main reasons Inter ran away with the league title. The Belgian is considered one of the top goal scorers in the world and he proved why during the 2020/21 season.

3) Luis Muriel: Atalanta’s Colombian attacker had a remarkable season as a super-sub. Muriel ended up with 102 Fantasy Points mostly accumulated from restricted minutes because of competition with Duvan Zapata (his fellow Colombian striker). Muriel scored 22 goals and gave 8 assists in just 16 starts, however, he made a further 20 appearances as a substitute. One remarkable stat to look for from Muriel’s season: Muriel did not finish a single league game he started so the Colombian did not have a single 90 minute appearance in Serie A during the 2020/21.

4) Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Roma’s midfielder Mkhitaryan is perhaps a surprise name on the best 5 fantasy football players’ list for Serie A but he fully deserved making that list. He tallied a very respectable 10 assists (third most in the league) to go along with an impressive 13 goals in Serie A. He was certainly Roma’s most impressive player for the 2020/21 season. He finished with 96 EFL Points.

5) Achraf Hakimi: Hakimi was certainly one of Inter’s most influential and impressive players for the 2020/21 season. The former Real Madrid and BVB (on loan) player scored 7 goals and provided 8 assists. Hakimi also helped Inter keep 13 clean sheets. He ended up with 92 EFL Points.

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Atalanta vs. AC Milan: Serie A Round 38 – Team news, stats and prediction

The final round of the season is upon us and for Milan, an extremely important encounter with Atalanta awaits at Gewiss Stadium. After getting just one point against Cagliari last time out, the Rossoneri most likely need to win in order to secure Champions League qualification for next season. 

It’s a task that won’t be easy for Stefano Pioli and his men but they are more than capable of getting the job done, as evidenced by the 3-0 win at Juventus. Atalanta have already secured their spot in the top four but will be playing for prize money, as there is about a €5m difference between finishing second and fourth.  Continue reading

Milan’s path to Champions League gets tricky as win vs. Atalanta is most likely needed

Milan failed to take advantage of what was a big opportunity at San Siro last night, held to a 0-0 draw by Cagliari. With a win, they would have secured their spot in next season’s Champions League, but now it’s all up in the air. Most likely, a win is needed against Atalanta in the final round. 

The Rossoneri struggled to break down what was a defensive Cagliari side, while some of the tactical choices by Stefano Pioli were questionable. In short, it wasn’t a good night for Milan who once again failed to deliver on their home turf, which has been really disappointing to see throughout the season.  Continue reading

Inter Milan are champions of Serie A for the first time in 11 years

Finally Juventus’ domination of the Serie A championship has ended and Inter are the new champions! It has been a deserved title and Antonio Conte’s team have been far the best side in the league especially since January. Before then they were neck and neck with Milan but they faded and Inter roared on to win their first scudetto since 2010.

The title officially became Inter’s on Sunday when 2nd placed Atalanta failed to beat Sassuolo with that game ending in a draw. This is Inter’s first title since the glory days of Jose Mourinho 11 years ago.

This is Inter’s 19th league title and in fairness to the other teams they were head and shoulders above them. Since March it became a question of when Inter would win the title and not if. In the end just minutes after securing the title Juventus who had won 9 in a row congratulated their rivals. It would have been painful for Juve not to make it 10 in a row but then again they have had time to contemplate that not happening this season since they were so far behind. The Old Lady may not qualify for next season’s Champions League, though they are in 3rd place now it is still very close.

Antonio Conte explained Inter’s philosophy in winning the title, “The team really developed in that sense, and in a season you must be able to take different approaches to be unpredictable. You cannot always just attack or always defend, it’s about knowing when to push. That’s where we improved, in reading the game and knowing those moments. A team cannot press for 90 minutes non-stop. The opponents in Italy study you and find ways to neutralise your strengths. If you are patient and wait for the right moment to strike, and have a team that is in good shape physically, you know that sooner or later the opposition will lose intensity.”

The player who is arguably Inter’s best of this title winning season Romelu Lukaku had this to say about winning the league. “I am so happy for all the Inter fans in the world, for the team, the staff, the President and everyone. It was a wonderful year for us, I am truly proud to play for Inter. I wanted to come out here and celebrate along with the people. I told my friend this was the best way to experience it, to be there with the fans. For me and many of my teammates, this is our first league title, so it’s a moment we wanted to share with them.”

Let’s take a look at the 3 key players who did that bit extra in ensuring Inter became champions of Italy.

-Milan Skriniar

Milan Skriniar hasn’t always got the plaudits this season but the defender has remained consistent and very solid throughout the title winning campaign. He has amassed an impressive 71 points and been part of a defence that has helped to keep 13 clean sheets. On top of that he has been dangerous at set-pieces and has scored 3 goals this season- all important ones that changed the game.

-Achraf Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi really came into his own in the middle of the season and the latter stages when it really mattered. Hakimi reminds one of Roberto Carlos in that his defending was swashbuckling and determined overlayered with intelligence but he wasn’t afraid to attack either to score goals and set them up. Hakimi has been one of the best defenders in Europe this season no doubt. He has contributed to an incredible 13 goals in Serie A alone, scoring seven of them.

-Romelu Lukaku

And of course there is Romelu Lukaku who has had a glittered career and yet this is his first league title with a club. Lukaku will be a legend now with Inter fans. His runs into the opponents half, his fantastic goals and his overall contribution will live long in the memory banks. Lukaku will probably finish as runner up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the goal scorers charts but he has still won the most important title for sure. Lukaku has scored 21 goals and assisted in another 10 in an incredible season for him and it is fitting that he has picked up 100 points in the fantasy rankings just as Inter have won the league title.

This was a title much like Manchester City’s in the Premier League which was won in truth by the brilliant defence. Attack has been the key of course to each teams titles but the overriding factor has been how the defence has played. In the rankings for example just for Inter we can see that 5 from the top ranked 8 players are defenders and that doesn’t include goalkeeper Samir Handanovic who is currently the 3rd best ranked player in the team.

Congratulations then to Inter for a fantastic title. The season isn’t over yet though and the clubs next game will be at home to Sampdoria on Saturday.

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Inter race 11 points clear and can win Serie A title this weekend!

The 11 year wait for Inter is almost over as they are so close now to winning the Serie A title after a stagnant decade. Antonio Conte’s team have been far the best side in the league and with 79 points they are 11 points in front of Atalanta who themselves have had a fantastic campaign.

One of the stories emerging out of this Serie A season is that Milan or even Juventus could miss out on the Champions League next season. Milan’s poor form has seen them slip to 5th and Juventus are now in 4th place. Though 3rd placed Napoli are on the same points (66) as both Juventus and Milan so it is certainly going to be a close call and should go down to the wire.

For Inter it has been a nervous month of April with each game finishing with just one goal for Conte’s team. Last weekend Inter recorded their 24th win of the season with a very narrow 1-0 victory at home over 10th placed Verona. Verona came into the game having having lost their last 3 in a row and of course Inter were the huge odds on favourites being at home.

However as it transpired this game looked to be finishing in a 0-0 stalemate before Matteo Darmian settled scores with just 14 minutes remaining of the match to get all three points for Inter in a weekend in which Juventus drew and Milan lost.

Verona made life difficult for Inter and that’s what can happen when you have nothing to play for. Verona will  be safe this season but also won’t be able to qualify for European football for next season and they actually had more goal attempts than Inter with 12 in total. Although the difference in technical quality was still telling given that Verona managed just 1 shot on target compared to Inter’s four.

Achraf Hakimi who has been so consistent this season assisted in Darmian’s goal and the player finished well to send the team into fits of joy. True the league isn’t over yet, but you take a look at the expressions of the players and coach and you knew that they knew that it was.

Inter could win the title this weekend when they play Crotone away from home. Although if they win they would still need to wait for Sunday on May 2nd to see how Atalanta perform when they play Sassuolo away from home.

Such is the excitement though that Inter owner Steven Zhang has flown in from China to witness the title celebrations. Surely if it is not this weekend it will be the next?

The Super League fallout seems to have gone quiet and Inter were one of the 12 teams who signed up to the doomed competition. Even though respective FA’s and UEFA said that teams would be punished this hasn’t been the case yet and maybe the associations will now wait until the end of the season. One of the punishments could see Inter banned from Europe for one season which would be unfortunate for them, instead they will be hoping for just a fine.

Stay tuned next weekend as we could be celebrating an historic league title for Inter.

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Sarri edges closer to Roma head coach and best performers of the club so far

Former Chelsea and Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has edged closer to becoming the new coach for Roma according to reports.

Of course Paulo Fonseca is still in charge of the Giallorossi but it is as clear as daylight that if the club do not qualify for the Champions League then Fonseca will lose his job.

Currently Roma are in 6th place and are 5 points behind 4th place Atalanta. All is not lost but it has become increasingly clear that the club are struggling of late and have lost 3 games from their last five, this includes losing their last two in a row. Apart from Atalanta the Giallorossi will also be battling with Napoli and the emerging Lazio for 4th.

It is thought that Sarri has conducted talks with Roma and that it is now in an advanced stage. With Sarri’s extensive experience this could be a great move for Roma. There are also rumours that Fonseca just can’t win given that he may be replaced even if the club end up in the top four. This is a story that could run for the next 2 months so watch this space.

Roma’s best performers so far in 2020/21

Domestic football has taken a two week break for internationals but the action returns this weekend. Roma will play Sassuolo away from home. Whilst Fonseca’s side will be the favourites to win that game looks tricky and could be very close.

With the break in place we haven’t seen any action for 14 days so we will take a look at the best performing players for the club so far.

- Henrikh Mkhitaryan with 70 points is the best overall player for the club so far. He has scored 9 goals and assisted in another 8. He started the season in brilliant form although faded in the middle. Despite Roma’s recent woes he has played some good football and will be hoping to finish the season in style.

- Lorenzo Pellegrini is a superb player when he is on his game. The one worry is he hasn’t been consistent enough but he usually steps up for the big games. His value is worth 7m and he has been involved in 10 goals so far with 6 of those coming from assists.

- Special mention should go to Rick Karsdorp in defence because with 36 points he is ranked as the best Roma defender. His value is just 5m so he would have been a real bargain this season and he has assisted in 5 goals and even scored one. The important statistic for him though is always going to be clean sheets and he has managed 8 so far.

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Roma fall 5 points from Champions League qualification with back to back defeats

Roma already knew the league was over for some time but still held out hope for a top 4 place finish and entry into next seasons Champions League but that now looks in doubt after the Giallorossi lost their 8th game of the season.

Eight games just seems like too many to lose by this stage of the season if you have dreams of playing in Europe’s most elite competition but this is where Paolo Fonseca’s team stand.

Roma lost 2-0 at home to Napoli to record their 3rd defeat in 5 games and to make it back to back losses for the Giallorossi.

Dries Mertens was the thorn in Roma’s side as the player scored two goals within three first half minutes. The first was a sublime free kick and the second was from his head. That was Mertens sixth and seventh goals of the campaign and with 58 points so far the midfielder has the most of any Napoli player.

After the game Roma coach Paulo Fonseca was puzzled by the clubs slow start but saw encouraging signs in the second half, he said: “ This is not the way we wanted to play. We didn’t do anything in the first half because the team was lacking courage. We are all responsible, because when we are afraid of playing and afraid of losing, it becomes too difficult. The fact we saw the second half being completely different, that means it is a psychological issue and we could only really get going once we’d fallen behind. If the team was bad all the way through, I’d say we were incapable. If the team was bad in every game, I’d say that was an issue. The fact we had a totally different attitude in the second half means it is the mentality that was at fault.”

The worry for Fonseca is that his job could be on the line if the club do not at least finish in 4th place. The favourite person to step in if Fonseca is sacked looks to be Massimiliano Allegri who has taken some time away from the game and could be the perfect candidate.

To summarise Roma have 50 points and are 3 behind 5th place Napoli and 5 points adrift of Atalanta who now occupy the final Champions League spot. Five points isn’t the end of the world given that there are still 30 left to play for but Roma will be mindful that Napoli, who leap frogged them with this win also have a game in hand which just complicates matters further still.

Roma’s next game is after the international break where they will play 8th placed Sassuolo away from home. Whilst they are 11 points behind Roma they also have a game in hand and last season they beat Roma 4-2 in this very fixture. Indeed Roma have only beaten Sassuolo once in the league from the last four matches played.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of form but Roma’s best player

It’s clear as daylight that Henrikh Mkhitaryan looks like the shadow of the player that graced Serie A at the start of the season and one has to wonder if the midfielder is fatigued? Still he is the best player Roma have according to the fantasy Serie A points and he currently has 70 so far.

The Giallorossi will need his form to turn around if they have any hopes of finishing in the top 4. Mkhitaryan has been good value for money for the fantasy teams with his value at 7.5m and he has scored 9 goals which is very impressive from his position.

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Inter stay six points clear of Milan with 19th win of the season against Atalanta

Inter are on course to win their first Serie A title since 2010 after they beat Atalanta on Monday evening to keep the gap between themselves and Milan at 6 points.

Attention was drawn to this game as it was thought to be a tricky one for the league leaders even if they were at home. Atalanta have been impressive in the league for the past 18 months and that form got the club into the Champions League. The game ended just 1-0 to Antonio Conte’s team who had to fight for all three points, but what a huge win it was for the club in the end. Inter are used to sticking 3 goals or more past their opponents but on this occasion they would have been more than happy to get a single goal, collect the points and move on to the next game.

For Inter this victory would be the clubs 8th win in a row and it would be hard fought. The goal eventually arrived 10 minutes into the second half and it was through the most unlikeliest of players in defender Milan Skriniar who pounced on a loose ball in the area to slot home. If not for that this game could have ended 0-0 and that would have been a huge 2 points dropped at home considering that both Milan and Juventus claimed wins at the weekend.

Atalanta had chances to equalise late on and the game was summed up by the fact that Inter’s goal was the only strike on target they had the whole game that is how close and nervous this 90 minutes had been for them. Both Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez were kept quiet by a well organised back four for Atalanta.

For Atalanta they remain in 5th place as they try and chase down a Champions League qualification position. The good news for them is that they are just a point shy of that target with Roma in 4th on 50 points and themselves currently on 49.

Inter have 62 points while Milan have 56 in 2nd and Juventus are in 3rd place with 52 though the champions have a game in hand and could go to 55. The ball is still in Inter’s courts but at this time it remains uncertain if they can pull off what would be a fantastic league title.

Coach Conte had this to say about the game.” Let’s not forget we have the best attack and tonight we played against the second best attack. Beyond the defensive solidity, the right balance has been found. Today, the players recognise the different phases of the game, there are moments in which we choose which type of area to wait and then attack, while then we decide to push higher and change our attitude. We were good at finding the right mix. At the beginning we always went forward, a bit like what Atalanta always does.”

Inter’s next game is away to Torino on Sunday. Milan are at home to Napoli and Juventus will play Cagliari away from home.

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Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 23 – Late Games

PARMA-UDINESE

Parma: they did manage to score against Verona, thanks to a successful penalty kick by Juraj Kucka, but they lost again and their offense left a lot to be desired. The midfielder has tallied their last three goals. Yann Karamoh looked decently spry in his return to the XI, while Gervinho and Andreas Cornelius are stuck in an endless slump and the former is in pretty lackluster form. Joshua Zirkzee had a pair of chances after subbing in but did not exploit them. Valentin Mihaila was the liveliest out of their youngsters, but so far the coach has been very conservative in giving minutes to them. Jasmin Kurtic has hit the net a couple of times in the season and he is not shy when it comes to bomb away from distance. If they somehow managed to play more proactively, their fullbacks Andrea Conti and Giuseppe Pezzella would have some interest. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Preview – Round 22 – Top Matches

SPEZIA-MILAN

Spezia: Vincenzo Italiano shook things up against Sassuolo, going with Kevin Agudelo as false-nine over Andrej Galabinov and, while the bouncy attacker did not score, the solution worked out pretty well as he added an element of unpredictability and a ton more pace. It could be the solution here again as it does not look like M’Bala Nzola will be ready to start. Diego Farias is likely to be sidelined, which will allow Daniele Verde to stay in the XI, but so far he has had success mostly in Coppa Italia. Emmanuel Gyasi’s starting job instead has never really been in question and he returned to the stat-sheet after months in the previous match: he is now up to two goals and four assists. Their second leading scorer Tommaso Pobega (three goals) is back from suspension and their midfield does not have the same punch without him, even though Matteo Ricci has been a nice assist-man and Giulio Maggiore is decently involved in their offense, but not as effective as the Milan loanee. Continue reading