Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round Four

Atalanta: Aleksey Miranchuk is set to be available after missing the first three matches with a thigh strain. Cristiano Piccini and Matteo Pessina have resumed practicing regularly following knee injuries and they too will return soon. Josip Ilicic is getting closer and closer, but the information on him is not always solid. Rafael Toloi is out of the quarantine after skipping the previous game, while Marco Carnesecchi has COVID. Mattia Caldara partially tore the patellar tendon in the left knee and will not be back before 2021.

Benevento: Andres Tello is be back after missing some time with ailments, but Federico Barba is still out. Gabriel Moncini will skip a game or two due to an adductor strain. Nicolas Viola needs more time to recover from a meniscus tear. Continue reading

Serie A Best Fantasy XI – Round 35

Pietro Terracciano (7 points): he got the nod in the previous round due to a process of elimination, instead he fully deserved against Inter, stopping the opponents multiple times with great saves and a little help coming from the woodwork and putting together a man-of-the-man performance.

Bruno Peres (8 points): not one but two goals for the Brazilian fullback, who is loving life in a very offensive role in Roma’s newly-hatched scheme and punished SPAL on two occasions with deep cuts in the box and sharp finishes. He is looking like his old Torino self. Continue reading

Serie A Best Fantasy XI – Round 31

Alessio Cragno (7 points): offenses generally bested defenses in the last matchday, so the clean sheets were numbered. It took him a minute, but the Cagliari goalie is finally looking like his old self and saved the day late with a great leap on a Christian Kouame header that was destined to the top corner.

Rafael Toloi (9 points): he often picked up assists this season and he has become an integral part of the Atalanta offense, but he had to go the extra mile against Sampdoria, as he bagged a perfectly executed thumping header to finally make the opponents late. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 26

Atalanta: Rafael Toloi will miss the next game due to a hamstring strain, while Berat Djimsiti with a bruised quad.

Bologna: Ibrahima Mbaye is suspended. The infirmary is emptying out since Nicola Sansone, Gary Medel and Federico Santander are poised to be available following thigh strains, Roberto Soriano after a bruise, leaving only Mitchell Dijks (foot), Ladislav Krejci (knee) and Mattias Svanberg (thigh) on the shelf. Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Picks – Round 22

Gianluigi Donnarumma: Milan will host Verona this week, which are certainly a plucky side, however the Rossoneri have been able to keep a clean sheet in three of the last four rounds, with their starlet providing the usual key contribution.

Rafael Toloi: Atalanta will look to follow up the masterpiece against Torino and bounce back at home after the SPAL debacle. They will have a good opportunity to do so versus the cellar-dwelling Genoa, which have bagged just four goals in the last six rounds. Continue reading

Serie A Match of the Round – Inter vs Atalanta

A ridiculously busy round featured three top-notch matches between teams in the upper echelon of the table: the most entertaining one of the lot ended up being Saturday Night’s Inter-Atalanta.

Both clubs came into the game in strong form, as the Biscione won pretty easily in the last two games versus Genoa and Napoli, while the Goddess had prevailed in four of the previous five fixtures and were coming off two straight five-nil routs. Continue reading

Serie A Best Fantasy XI – Round 18

Salvatore Sirigu (7 points): it took a great team effort by Torino to halt Roma and their trusted goalie was the tip of the spear, denying multiple efforts by Roma, even from point-blank range, and this time his efforts were rewarded with a clean sheet.

Rafael Toloi (7 points): Atalanta yet again dominated at home, keeping an easy clean sheet versus Parma and the centre-back made his presence felt on the other too, slipping the ball to Josip Ilicic before the final goal of the day. Continue reading

Serie A Team of the Round – Atalanta

Another home cooking for Atalanta, which hanged on Parma the same result they had against Milan: five-nothing, with most of their offensive weapons breaking through.

The Goddess were looking to keep up their good form and cash in on Roma’s stumble against Torino to move closer to the top four. Coach Gian Piero Gasperini chose Hans Hateboer over Timothy Castagne on the right wing, selected Luis Muriel to spearhead the attack, while Marco Sportiello was between the sticks because Pierluigi Gollini had been under the weather throughout the week.   Continue reading

Serie A Fantasy Picks – Round 17

A reduced pool this week with Juventus-Sampdoria taking place on Wednesday and Lazio and Verona not playing due to Sunday’s Supercoppa Italiana.

Salvatore Sirigu: SPAL broke out of their road drought and have found the target in the past three matches, but they remain one of the most anaemic offenses in Europe, with only Watford having scored less than them in the top five leagues. The veteran goalie has been as reliable as they come despite being behind an imperfect back-line.

Stefan De Vrij: Inter have re-started keeping clean sheets, two in the past four games, and the Dutch defender offers the most upside on the other end. Genoa have failed to hit the net in three of their past five matches. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 14

Atalanta: Luis Muriel and Hans Hateboer subbed off due to knocks on the knee in Champions League, but there is optimism they will be able to play Saturday. Duvan Zapata flew to Spain for further check-ups on his thigh and will remain sidelined. Rafael Toloi is suspended. Simon Kjaer has been ruled out due to fatigue. 

Bologna: Mattia Destro is improving after his knee problem and could be called up, while Mitchell Dijks (toe) and Roberto Soriano (knee) are having troubles absorbing edemas. The midfielder is actually at risk of missing all the December games. Federico Santander is nursing a thigh strain. Continue reading