Best Serie A-related Free Agents Still Available

The transfer market window is over, but there could still be some signings out of the free agent pool in the coming weeks and there are some decent names out there, especially for the mid-to-low table teams. Claudio Marchisio terminated his contract with Zenit to rehab from knee surgery, but he will not coming back to Serie A unless he changes his stance of playing only for Juventus in Italy. Likewise Keisuke Honda, that after spending time at Pachuca and Melbourne is now looking to move to his home country. Continue reading

Serie A Injury and Suspension Report – Round 34

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Juventus: Giorgio Chiellini has good chances to be back from a calf contracture and Martin Caceres from a thigh strain, while Douglas Costa (calf). Paulo Dybala (quad) and Mario Mandzukic (knee) will not be back this week. Rodrigo Bentancur has been ruled out with muscle fatigue.

Napoli: Raul Albiol is expected to return after missing time following a knee clean-up surgery. Vlad Chiriches hurt his shoulder in the last game and will undergo surgery, while Nikola Maksimovic and Amadou Diawara are nursing foot issues. Adam Ounas skipped the last two games due to a muscular ailment, but he is back in the squad list. Allan and Lorenzo Insigne are both fatigued and have been ruled out.  Continue reading

Serie A Team of the Week – Round 13

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The last round was a little meager in terms of scoring because few teams that were shut out. Here are the best performers.

Stefano Sorrentino (7 points): defenses bounced back after struggling in the match days prior to the break and nine teams managed to keep a clean sheet. None was more impressive than Chievo’s one at San Paolo, where their goalie made eight saves, including a pair of key and beautiful ones. Lukasz Skorupski and Alessio Cragno’s performances to stymie Fiorentina was also noteworthy.

William Troost-Ekong (5 points): a myriad of defenders got five points because their sides did not concede. The Udinese centre-back played a major role in stifling Roma on Saturday, blanketing first Patrik Schick and then Edin Dzeko. Continue reading

Serie A Game of the Round – Roma vs Chievo

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There were not many intense games this week and the most anticipated one, Napoli-Fiorentina, was decided by a single goal. All things considered, Roma-Chievo had the most drama.

Eusebio Di Francesco returned to his basics and arrayed a 4-3-3 with Lorenzo Pellegrini, Steven Nzonzi and Bryan Cristante in the midfield, as Javier Pastore was sidelined by an injury, picked Juan Jesus over Federico Fazio in the back-line and Stephan El Shaarawy as left winger. Roberto D’Anna trotted out a pretty defensive lineup, with two centre-backs like Nenad Tomovic and Federico Barba manning the flanks, and Nicola Rigoni initially starting over the returning Perparim Hetemaj. Continue reading

Serie A Player Status Updates – Round 3

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Juventus:  Miralem Pjanic is fine after subbing off in the second half last week, Mattia De Sciglio might be able to make the squad list.

Napoli: Mario Rui is expected to recover from the little muscular problem he had against Milan, while Fabian Ruiz remains questionable due to muscle fatigue. Alex Meret (arm) is unlikely to play, but he is close to returning.

Roma:  Alessandro Florenzi suffered a knee trauma, but it is nothing major. He, Diego Perotti, still dealing with an ankle sprain, and Antonio Mirante, for some neck pain, have been ruled out for the Milan game. Continue reading

Serie A Player Status Updates – Round 2

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Juventus: Mattia De Sciglio is out again with a hamstring ailment.

Napoli: Alex Meret remains out for arm fracture, he should miss the next one as well. No issue for Lorenzo Insigne after last week’s blow to the knee. Fabian Ruis is out with muscle fatigue.

Roma: Diego Perotti is nursing a bruised ankle, but he might be in the squad.

Inter: Milan Skriniar is available, Radja Nainggolan should be as well, but he is more likely to feature off the bench. Continue reading

Serie A Match of the Round: Chievo v Juventus

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A couple of games in the first round were intense and high scoring: Parma-Udinese deserves an honourable mention, especially because the Friulani did not give up after the two-nothing goal, but Chievo-Juventus was undoubtedly the most compelling match. On Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut in Serie A, two other players shined brightest: Emanuele Giaccherini and Federico Bernardeschi.

As for the line-ups, Massimiliano Allegri opted for a very offensive 4-4-2 with Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala upfront, Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa on the flanks and Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira in the midfield. Continue reading

Serie A Game of the Week – Round 29: Milan vs Chievo

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There were no massive clashes in Serie A in the weekend, but it still ended up being a significant round as Napoli got closer to Juventus, Inter re-claimed one of the top four spots and Spal abandoned the relegation zone. The best game of the week was Milan-Chievo, which was surprisingly high scoring and intense up until the final whistle.

The Devil approached the bout riding a nine-game undefeated streak in Serie A and looking to move past the elimination in Europa League by the hands of Arsenal. On the other hand, Chievo had lost in six of their last seven matches and was dragged into the mud fight to avoid the drop.

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Serie A Players of the Week – Round 16

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The last Serie A round was a little poor in terms of scoring and most of the top players disappointed, but there were still some very noteworthy fantasy performances.

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