Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round Two

Atalanta: Duvan Zapata and José Palomino should be good to go after COVID, but they might be initially limited. Cristiano Piccini will be held out as he works on his fitness level. Aleksey Miranchuk (thigh strain) is unlikely to be back before the international break. Pierluigi Gollini (partial ACL tear) and Matteo Pessina (patellar dislocation) are expected to return in November. Berat Djimsiti and Cristian Romero are suspended. Josip Ilicic remains out indefinitely as he recovers from mental health issues, but at least he is practicing. 

Benevento: Nicolas Viola is out as he had a torn meniscus removed and will be sidelined for a couple of months. Oliver Kragl (neck) and Andres Tello have been ruled for minor ailments, Federico Barba because of lack of fitness.  Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round One

Bologna: Gary Medel is suspended and is also recovering from a grade one strain in the semimembranosus muscle on the right thigh, therefore he could miss week two as well.

Cagliari: Luca Ceppitelli, Filip Bradaric and Kiril Despodov are quarantining after catching COVID-19 in late August. Gaston Pereiro suffered a fifth metatarsal fracture in the right foot about two weeks ago and he has a 45-day timetable. Alessandro Deiola is recovering from a clean-up surgery on the right knee he had during his time at Lecce. Continue reading

Milan bring in Theo Hernandez from Real Madrid

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Milan have added a new left back: on Saturday, League’s site made official the acquistion of Theo Hernandez from Real Madrid. The 21-year-old defender has been acquired for a reported €20M fee and inked a five-year contract.

Hernandez was on loan to Real Sociedad in 2018/2019, where he collected 28 appearances, scored once and provided two assists. The season before, he played 23 times with Los Blancos. He was purchased in 2017 from Atletico Madrid after his best campaign to date, at Deportivo Alaves, where he registered four assists and one goal in 32 matches. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Picks – Round 33

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Thomas Strakosha: fresh off a saved penalty in the Udinese game, he could be able to take home few more bonus points against Chievo, which have scored just nine times on the road.

Jens Larsen: the two-game trip to the Nation’s Capital went poorly for Udinese, which were handled by both Roma and Lazio. However, they have had much success at home, while Sassuolo are pedestrian away and the fullback has been able to haul in points in six of the last eight tilts at the Friuli stadium. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 29

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Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo picked up a thigh strain while playing with Portugal and is unlikely to play in the next three games. Sami Khedira has been cleared to practice after a heart problem, but it will take him a little longer before playing. Douglas Costa (quad, calf), Juan Cuadrado (knee) and Andrea Barzagli (calf) remain sidelined, while Mattia De Sciglio has recovered from a thigh pull.

Napoli: Fabian Ruiz will be available after a tough flu. Lorenzo Insigne was on track to play but suffered a relapse of a thigh contracture.  Continue reading

Serie A Match of the Round – Atalanta vs Milan

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The most significant game this week was the bout between Atalanta and Milan with the fourth spot on the line. The Goddess came into the fixture having won four of five, while the Rossoneri were coming off their most convincing win of the season, against Cagliari, and riding a six-match undefeated streak, where they had tied three times.

Both coaches confirmed the XIs they have been using consistently for few weeks: the only tweak by Gian Piero Gasperini was picking Berat Djimsiti to anchor the back-line and moving José-Luis Palomino to left centre-back, over Gianluca Mancini, while Gennaro Gattuso marshaled his usual 4-3-3. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Predictions – Round 18

The first ever Serie A boxing day will culminate in a tasty match-up between Inter and Napoli.

Frosinone-Milan: the Ciociari snatched a decent draw in Udinese in Marco Baroni’s first game, but they need some Ws as they have gotten just one so far and it dates back to October 28th. The window to reduce the gap is closing quickly. Milan are sputtering in the last period: they have prevailed just once in the last six fixtures, tying with Lazio, Torino and Bologna and losing to Juventus and Fiorentina. They have been unable to score in the past three games. With so little time to work with, the new coach did not change much, opting for a 3-5-2 and benching Joel Campbell to have one more midfielder, Francesco Cassata. Continue reading