Who are the Italian winners and losers outside of Serie A this week? Although Serie A is home to the majority of Italian stars, especially those that play for the Azzurri, there are still a host of top-quality players that feature outside of the league.
The Premier League is home to a lot of Italians, such as Sandro Tonali, Guglielmo Vicario and head coach Roberto De Zerbi. However, we have also scoured the rest of Europe to find the Italian winners and losers this week. Check them out below!
Italian Winners & Losers Outside of Serie A
Winners
Gianluigi Donnarumma
First up in our Italian winners and losers is Gianluigi Donnarumma. He wasn’t able to get a clean sheet last time out but Paris Saint-Germain did win their second league match of the season as they went four goals up by half time away to Lyon this weekend. He made some crucial saves to secure the three points.
Donnarumma managed to make a good stop to tip over a fierce strike by Rayan Cherki in the first half before making a stellar save down low to his right to deny a volley from Corentin Tolisso. The 24-year-old has only kept one clean sheet so far this season but his side remain unbeaten from their opening four matches.
Roberto De Zerbi
De Zerbi’s Brighton have made a strong start to the season and have won three of their opening four matches. In typical De Zerbi fashion, his Brighton side have been highly entertaining and their games have seen plenty of goals. That happened again at the weekend as the Seagulls defeated Newcastle United 3-1 at the Amex Stadium thanks to a hat-trick from teenage sensation Evan Ferguson.
The former Sassuolo coach was able to guide Brighton to a sixth-placed finish last season, securing Europa League football for the first time in their history. That was also their highest top-flight finish throughout their history. Already, De Zerbi will go down as a Brighton legend and he hasn’t even had a full season in charge! Their comprehensive win over Newcastle means that De Zerbi is a valid entry as a winner in our Italian winners and losers this week.
Guglielmo Vicario
Vicario has had solid start to his Tottenham Hotspur career. He has become the number one for Spurs after his move from Empoli back in June. He has managed to keep two clean sheets from four as his side remain undefeated through four matches, winning three in the process. Despite conceding two away to Burnley last weekend, there wasn’t much he could do about either goal.
The 26-year-old shot-stopper made a crucial save to deny a deflected Lyle Foster effort in a significant part of the encounter. With Spurs ahead at 3-1, Foster went through on goal and came close to pulling a goal back for the Clarets. However, Vicario was able to tip the ball over the bar with a fine save to keep his side’s two-goal advantage intact. He passionately celebrated the stop too and Tottenham fans will love that sort of commitment.
Sandro Tonali training with the Italian squad today. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/fPrwoXPZ6p
— Newcastle Fans TV (@NewcastleFansTV) September 4, 2023
Losers
Sandro Tonali
So, now it’s time for the losers in our Italian winners and losers. After a fantastic debut for the former Milan man, it has all been downhill for Tonali at Newcastle ever since. The Magpies have suffered three consecutive defeats since their 5-1 opening day victory at home to Aston Villa. The Italy international’s performances haven’t been exactly bad, however, but Tonali has failed to impose himself across the last few games and has been benched midway through the second half in all three. He has failed to score or assist in his last three outings as well.
There’s still plenty of time for Tonali to show Newcastle and the rest of the Premier League his true abilities. It has only been four games of the season but, unfortunately, he has to go down as a loser this week. He and Newcastle will hope to respond at home to Brentford after the international break.
Nicoló Zaniolo
Nicoló Zaniolo has hardly featured for Villa since signing on loan from Galatasaray back in mid-August. He has made just two substitute appearances and will need time to settle in at Villa Park. That includes an appearance on Sunday as he replaced Leon Bailey midway through the second half.
Villa would go on to lose 3-0 away to Liverpool at Anfield and Zaniolo failed to make an impact off the bench. However, it is still very early days in his Villa career and he is yet to even make his first start for the club. Nevertheless, his limited action means he is one of the Italian losers this week. He will have the chance to show what he can do over the next few weeks after being named in Luciano Spalletti’s first Azzurri squad.
Wilfried Gnonto
After failing to secure his move to the Premier League over the summer, Wilfried Gnonto will have to play in the Championship for Leeds United this term, at least until January. He has scored just one goal so far this season, failing to provide an assist. The 19-year-old was originally left out of the squad by head coach Daniel Farke due to speculation surrounding his future but has recently been recalled to the side.
Gnonto should feel more secure that he’s still made the Azzurri squad, despite playing in the English second tier. However, he joins the losers list this week since he failed to secure his move and failed to make an impact for Leeds against Sheffield Wednesday, despite playing the full 90 minutes. The Whites shared the points at home to the Owls in a 0-0 stalemate, failing to live up to the hype of the South Yorkshire derby.