Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 26

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Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo had a little scare midweek due to an ankle bruise, but he should be able to feature against Napoli. Douglas Costa (quad) is still out of commission, while Sami Khedira is trying to return earlier than expected from his heart problem.

Napoli: Mario Rui will be back in the squad list after missing time with a thigh sprain and Amin Younes could be called up as well after nursing his surgically repaired Achilles tendon away from the team for a while. Arkadiusz Milik was a little fatigued this week, but he should be fine. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Predictions – Round 24

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Juventus-Frosinone: the Bianconeri quickly bounced back in Sassuolo after the 3-3 draw with Parma and have won four times in the last five fixtures, fortifying their lead in the standings. The Ciociari have been pesky recently and they are coming off a surprise win over Sampdoria, their second in a row on the road, and they are now within striking distance from the 17th spot. With Champions League just around the corner, Cristiano Ronaldo might be rested for the second time in Serie A, which would mean more scoring opportunities for Mario Mandzukic, Federico Bernardeschi and Paulo Dybala, or whoever will compose the front-line. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 22

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Juventus: Giorgio Chiellini suffered a calf pull that should force him to miss a couple of games. Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira returned in Coppa Italia, while Mario Mandzukic (ankle) is expected to be available this week. Emre Can is ill but available.

Napoli: Fabian Ruiz is suspended. Raul Albiol and Elseid Hysaj are fatigued, while Adam Younes is banged up: the first two have called up, the winger has not.

Inter: Matteo Politano was slapped with a two-game ban. Stefan De Vrij is dealing with some muscle fatigue, but he has been called up, while Balde Keita remains out.  Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 21

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Juventus: Mario Mandzukic is trying to come back from high strain, but it might be too early. Miralem Pjanic and Joao Cancelo are dealing with minor calf ailments, while Sami Khedira has a sore knee: they are unlikely to be available this week, but the fullback has a shot. Medhi Benatia (groin), Andrea Barzagli (thigh) and Juan Cuadrado (knee) remain out.

Napoli: Marek Hamsik will return from a thigh strain, while Allan is experiencing some back pain and has been ruled out.

Inter: Balde Keita (thigh) will not be able to come back this week, while Sime Vrsaljko is under the weather and also nursing an achy knee. Matteo Politano is fatigued.  Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 20

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Juventus: Miralem Pjanic is suspended, while Douglas Costa (calf) and Rodrigo Bentancur (thigh) are banged up after the Supercoppa, but they could recover by Monday. Mario Mandzukic will be on the mend for a couple more weeks and Medhi Benatia remains iffy with a sore groin.

Napoli: Lorenzo Insigne, Allan and Kalidou Koulibaly are disqualified. Dries Mertens is trying to shake off an ankle sprain and his presence is not 100 percent certain. Marek Hamsik is not expected to come back from his thigh strain. Raul Albiol is fatigued, but available.  Continue reading

Serie A Team of the Week – Round 11

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Samir Handanovic (7 points): five clean sheets in the weekend, by Inter, Milan, Frosinone, Parma and Sassuolo, but there was no particularly superb performance by any goalie, so Handanovic gets the nod by default because he has earned the most points so far in the season and he is also the most owned in the bunch.

Alessio Romagnoli (8 points): it is hard to believe that a centre-back could be involved in late goals in two games in a row, but this was the case for the Milan captain. The one versus Genoa was more impromptu, while in Udine he followed a fast-break and punished an howler by the back-line with a powerful strike from inside the box. Continue reading

Serie A Match of the Round – Frosinone vs Empoli

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The Derby della Madonnina was balanced, hard-fought and intense, but, albeit in dramatic fashion, it was decided by a single goal in the stoppage time. So the weekly shout-out goes to high-scoring affair between Frosinone and Empoli, which had a lot at stake for an early season game and was brilliantly played by both sides.

The Ciociari have yet to win this season and garnered only a point so far, against Bologna at home. The Azzurri prevailed just in the season opener and suffered five losses after that, managing to tie twice. Continue reading

Serie A Player Status and Injury Updates – Round 4

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The international break has been pretty rough this time around.

Juventus: Miralem Pjanic was stomped on with Bosnia, but he is fine. Andrea Barzagli had a calf problem in practice.

Napoli: Piotr Zielinski (ankle) and Dries Mertens (shoulder) suffered small injuries, but they are fine and could both start. Vlad Chiriches tore his ACL with Romania and will be out for five-to-six month. Faouzi Ghoulam was cleared to practice after a long rehab following a kneecap fracture and might be able to play in a month. Alex Meret is a couple of weeks away from a full recovery from an arm fracture. Continue reading

Serie A Best Team to Pick – Round 2

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Most of the top fantasy players underperformed in week 1, let’s hope for a better performance in this round.

Alban Lafont: the youngster has already drawn rave reviews in Florence after his summer move from Toulouse.  The Viola will host Chievo, which played well against Juventus, but might have some troubles replicating that on the road.

Alex Sandro: Juventus’ back-line will look for improvements after a subpar showing in Verona against Lazio’s always powerful attack, which however sputtered against Napoli. The Brazilian full-back still excelled versus Chievo and provided the decisive assist. Continue reading

Serie A Weekly News Recap

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Most of the big stuff was done prior to deadline day in Serie A, but it still had a little bit of drama with Simone Zaza picking Torino over Sampdoria after the Blucerchiati had sealed the deal with Valencia. He will now form an interesting couple with Andrea Belotti and the Granata also brought in another familiar face: Roberto Soriano from Villarreal. Two valuable additions that might allow them to seriously challenge for a Europa League spot this year. They also obtained on loan the right back Ola Aina from Chelsea and the centre-back Koffi Djidji from Nantes to complete the defence. Continue reading