With another international break approaching, the Round 12 will start Friday night and terminate Sunday with a thoroughly enthralling edition of the Derby della Madonnina. Empoli will look to keep up their good work versus Genoa in the opening game. Despite the blistering start, the Azzurri have had little success at home, while the Grifone has not won in eight games.
Davide Ballardini is one of the four coaches on the hot seat, alongside Roberto D’Aversa, Thiago Motta, and Luca Gotti. Cagliari are on retreat as well, but they have already made a change on the bench. On Saturday, Spezia will need to stop an in-form Torino. After bouncing back in Champions League, Juventus will attempt to do the same against Fiorentina, which have a good tradition at the Stadium and are above them in the standings. The tough sledding for the Sardinians might continue since they will host Atalanta.
Roma will seek a positive result after the controversial loss to Milan in Sunday’s lunch match versus the plucky Venezia. Sampdoria will try to win one for their coach, but Bologna are in better shape. Udinese will try to return to winning ways after a lengthy drought against Sassuolo, which could not follow up the win over Juventus with a positive result, as they were pipped at the post by Empoli last week. Lazio will face Salernitana at home in the former Claudio Lotito bowl. Napoli will have to deal with the pesky Verona, which have lost just once, to Milan, since Igor Tudor took over and just tossed Juventus around.
The only new notable injured players are Mattia Destro and Josip Brekalo, who picked up strains. However, a few big names are dealing with minor issues. Theo Hernandez, Kalidou Koulibaly, Martin Caceres, Maxime Lopez, Tommaso Pobega, Adrien Silva, Petar Stojanovic, and Grigoris Kastanos are suspended either because they were sent off in the past matchday or due to yellow-card accumulation.
EMPOLI-GENOA – Official
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Fiamozzi, Tonelli, Viti, Marchizza; Haas, Stulac, Bandinelli; Henderson; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.
Ruled Out: Furlan (thigh strain).
Suspensions: Stojanovic.
Genoa (3-5-1-1): Sirigu; Masiello, Vasquez, Criscito; Biraschi, Sturaro, Badelj, Rovella, Cambiaso; Galdames; Caicedo.
Ruled Out: Destro (thigh strain), Maksimovic (thigh strain), Fares (calf strain), Hernani (thigh strain), Vanheusden (thigh strain), Cassata (knee surgery), Bani (thigh injury).
SPEZIA-TORINO – Official
Spezia (4-2-3-1): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou, Bastoni; Sala, Kovalenko; Verde, Maggiore, Gyasi; Nzola.
Ruled Out: Agudelo (foot metatarsal fracture), Reca (thigh strain), Bourabia (calf strain), Sena (failed physical), Sher (arm fracture), Nguiamba (thigh injury), Hristov (muscle fatigue).
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Rincon, Lukic, Aina; Linetty, Praet; Belotti.
Ruled Out: Mandragora (meniscus injury), Brekalo (calf strain), Ansaldi (thigh strain), Edera (ACL tear).
Suspensions: Pobega.
JUVENTUS-FIORENTINA – Official
Juventus (4-4-2): Perin; Danilo, De Ligt, Rugani, Alex Sandro; Chiesa, McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot; Dybala, Morata.
Ruled Out: De Sciglio (thigh strain), Kean (muscle fatigue), Szczesny (chest contusion).
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Castrovilli; Callejon, Vlahovic, Saponara.
Ruled Out: Gonzalez (COVID), Dragowski (thigh strain), Pulgar (ankle sprain).
CAGLIARI-ATALANTA – Official
Cagliari (4-4-1-1): Cragno; Zappa, Godin, Carboni, Lykogiannis; Bellanova Marin, Strootman, Deiola; Nandez; Joao Pedro.
Ruled Out: Keita (tonsillitis), Dalbert (knee sprain), Rog (ACL tear), Ceter (thigh strain), Walukiewicz (thigh bruise), Ceppitelli (back pain).
Suspensions: Caceres.
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; De Roon, Demiral, Palomino; Zappacosta, Koopmeiners, Freuler, Maehle; Malinovskyi, Pasalic; Zapata.
Ruled Out: Toloi (thigh strain), Gosens (thigh strain), Hateboer (foot microfracture).
VENEZIA-ROMA – Official
Venezia (4-3-1-2): Romero; Mazzocchi, Caldara, Ceccaroni, Haps; Crnigoj, Ampadu, Busio; Kiyine; Forte, Okereke.
Ruled Out: Johnsen (ankle injury), Vacca (calf strain), Fiordilino (sports hernia), Lezzerini (disc injury), Ala-Myllymaki (knee cartilage tear).
Roma (3-4-1-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Kumbulla, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Cristante, Veretout, El Shaarawy; Pellegrini; Abraham, Shomurodov.
Ruled Out: Vina (thigh injury), Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear), Smalling (thigh strain), Calafiori (thigh injury).
SAMPDORIA-BOLOGNA
Sampdoria (4-3-3): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Askildsen, Ekdal, Thorsby; Gabbiadini, Caputo, Candreva.
Potential changes: Colley/Dragusin, Askildsen/Depaoli, Caputo/Quagliarella.
Ruled Out: Damsgaard (thigh strain), Ihattaren (personal), Vieira (thigh strain), Ravaglia (fever), Verre (thigh injury).
Suspensions: Adrien Silva.
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; De Silvestri, Dominguez, Svanberg, Hickey; Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Potential changes: Medel/Binks, Hickey/Dijks, Svanberg/Vignato.
Ruled Out: Kingsley (fibula fracture), Bonifazi (calf strain), Schouten (thigh injury), Viola.
UDINESE-SASSUOLO
Udinese (3-5-2): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Pereyra, Walace, Makengo, Stryger Larsen; Deulofeu, Beto.
Potential changes: Stryger Larsen/Udogie, Makengo/Arslan, Deulofeu/Success.
Ruled Out: Pussetto (knee bruise).
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Magnanelli, Frattesi; Berardi, Traoré, Raspadori; Scamacca.
Potential changes: Toljan/Muldur, Magnanelli/Matheus Henrique, Scamacca/Defrel.
Probable: Ayhan.
Ruled Out: Boga (thigh injury), Djuricic (thigh injury), Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).
Suspensions: Maxime Lopez.
LAZIO-SALERNITANA
Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Hysaj, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
Potential changes: Cataldi/Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto/Akpa Akpro.
Questionable: Zaccagni (knee sprain).
Ruled Out: Adekanye (meniscus injury), Lazzari (calf injury).
Salernitana (4-3-1-2): Belec; Zortea, Gyomber, Strandberg, Ranieri; Schiavone, Di Tacchio, Obi; Ribery; Simy, Bonazzoli.
Potential changes: Gyomber/Gagliolo, Schiavone/L.Coulibaly, Simy/Djuric.
Probable: Ribery (knee bruise), L.Coulibaly (thigh strain), Bogdan (calf strain).
Ruled Out: M.Coulibaly (thigh injury), Ruggeri (thigh strain), Capezzi (knee injury).
Suspensions: Kastanos.
NAPOLI-VERONA
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Anguissa; Politano, Zielinski, Insigne; Osimhen.
Potential changes: Fabian Ruiz/Demme, Insigne/Lozano, Osimhen/Mertens.
Probable: Fabian Ruiz, Insigne (muscle fatigue), Osimhen (calf contracture).
Ruled Out: Manolas (thigh strain), Malcuit (calf strain).
Suspensions: Koulibaly.
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Casale; Sutalo, Tameze, Veloso, Faraoni; Barak, Caprari; Simeone.
Potential changes: Gunter/Magnani, Sutalo/Ceccherini, Tameze/Bessa.
Ruled Out: Frabotta (Achilles tendon partial tear), Ilic (ankle bruise), Lazovic (thigh injury).
MILAN-INTER
Milan (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Ballo-Touré; Kessié, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Ibrahimovic.
Potential changes: Ballo-Touré/Kalulu, Saelemaekers/Rebic, Brahim Diaz/Krunic.
Probable: Calabria (head injury), Rebic (ankle sprain), Florenzi (knee surgery), Ballo-Touré (ankle bruise).
Ruled Out: Maignan (wrist injury), Messias (thigh strain), Castillejo (thigh strain).
Suspensions: Theo Hernandez.
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Potential changes: Darmian/Dumfries, Calhanoglu/Vidal, Perisic/Dimarco.