Serie A Top XI – Round 25 – Makeup Games

Pierluigi Gollini: no team managed to keep a clean sheet during the four make-up games, but the Atalanta goalie was the best performer out of the bunch, as he stonewalled the Sassuolo’s attackers time and time again by coming out of the goal very aggressively. Unfortunately, Mehdi Bourabia’s accurate free kick spoiled his day late.

Nicolas N’Koulou (4 points): the defenders as a whole are hurt as well due to the lack of clean sheets, so only those who had an offensive contribution gathered points. Torino’s giant opened the dances after the resumption with a towering header and the Granata’s back-line looked better than before the lockdown. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 11

Atalanta: Marten De Roon is suspended. Andrea Masiello and José-Luis Palomino were available for the midweek round, so the only injured player is Duvan Zapata.

Bologna: Mitchell Dijks will remain sidelined for what is now billed more as a foot sprain than a contusion. Gary Medel is back in the squad list, while Mattia Destro and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain sidelined. Federico Santander was hit on the calf but he is available.

Brescia: Jesse Joronen is questionable due to the bruise that forced him to miss the last game. It is unlikely that there will any return among their injured players, with Giangiacomo Magnani being the closest. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round Ten

Standings implications: it took them 96 minutes, but Juventus downed Genoa therefore replied to Inter, which looked tired but withstood Brescia’s assault. Napoli and Atalanta shared the spoiled in the most anticipated match of the round. The Roma teams dominated, with the Giallorossi trashing Udinese away and Lazio doing the same to Torino at the Olimpico Stadium. Cagliari continue to march on and upended Bologna. Fiorentina staged a comeback to defeat Sassuolo. Verona blitzed Parma on the road, while Sampdoria and Lecce tied one-one. Milan have a pulse and squeaked by SPAL. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Picks – Round Four

Gianluigi Buffonhe is rumoured to be getting the first start since coming back and Juventus have a good opportunity for a clean sheet against Verona. The previously indicated Alex Meret is in strong form but he might be rested this week ahead of the midweek round.

Diego Godin: Inter’s defense has been as advertised and should continue to grow as it gels after some absences. They could take advantage of the fact that Milan have not figured out the proper combinations up front yet. He is coming off an assist and it would not be surprising to see him solve a big game or two with his headers. 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 Injury and Suspension Report – Round 23

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Juventus: Federico Bernardeschi will be good to go after leaving the last game with a chest injury. On the other hand, Douglas Costa is iffy due to a bruised quad and Leonardo Spinazzola has a sore ankle. Giorgio Chiellini (calf) will be out again, while Leonardo Bonucci (ankle) is making a late push to be in the squad list.

Napoli: Amin Younes is having troubles with the surgically repaired Achilles tendon. Raul Albiol is reportedly dealing with a patellar tendon issue that could turn out to be a very serious one.

Inter: Matteo Politano will serve the final game of his suspension. Balde Keita has been called up despite the coach saying that he is not ready. Borja Valero is out with knee soreness.

Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 18

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Standings implications: Juventus were pretty lucky to grab a tie against Atalanta, however Napoli got beat by Inter and therefore the Bianconeri’s lead widened, while the Nerrazzuri and the Partenopei are now separated by five points. Both Roman teams looked pretty good in the midweek round as Lazio’s win in Bologna was never in doubt and the Giallorossi routed Sassuolo. Milan were held to a tie in Frosinone, so Sampdoria, which were the first to defeat Domenico Di Carlo’s Chievo, now lead the Europa League race. Torino remain in the mix after they handed a drubbing to Empoli, while Fiorentina laid an egg against Parma. SPAL and Udinese did not hurt each other, while Cagliari returned to winning ways against Genoa.

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Serie A Team of the Week – Round 3

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Few top players flopped again in this round, here’s the list of the best performers from the last weekend.

Samir Handanovic (7 points): few teams managed to keep a clean sheet in this round, Fiorentina even did it with two different goalies. The Inter veteran had the best save of the week on a point-blank header by Filip Helander that would have changed the course of the game. He certainly needed that after the gaffe against Torino.

Nicolas Nkoulou (9 points): Torino-SPAL seemingly lasted forever after being stopped for heavy raining. When it resumed, it was solved by a thumping header on a corner kick by the Cameroonian, who, as always, was very reliable in the back as well. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Recap – Round 3

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There will be a lot to mull about in the international week after a very meaningful Serie A round.

Standings implications: Juventus scooped up another win and are now alone on top since Napoli did not pull off the comeback this time versus Sampdoria, Milan won this week’s big match against Roma, Inter got back on track with a large result against, Lazio had more troubles but the same results. Sassuolo again excelled at home with Genoa as their victim this time, while Cagliari exploited Atalanta’s tiredness to bring home a precious win. Chievo and Empoli were content sharing the spoils. Torino prevailed in a very wet encounter with SPAL that was suspended and resumed late. Continue reading