Serie A are quickly back on the pitch for Round 15. No head-to-head clashes atop of the standings, which was somewhat pre-arranged, but still plenty of intrigue. On Tuesday, after besting Juventus, Atalanta will look to prove they are legit contenders against Venezia, which kept things close with Inter over the weekend. Fiorentina will seek to wash away the bitter taste of the late comeback by Empoli versus Sampdoria, which won two matches in a row for the first time in the season.
After three challenging games and the losing to La Dea, Juventus will try to exploit the easy match-up against the cellar-dwelling Salernitana. Verona, which suffered the second stumble of the Igor Tudor era, will finish things off versus an angry Cagliari that left two points on the table versus La Bergagliera. On Wednesday, Roma will try to get the third win a row in Bologna, which have prevailed in three of their last four fixtures, generally faring convincingly. Inter will have good chances to keep things going as they will host Spezia, which dropped their last two matches without putting up much of a fight.
After two surprising defeats in a row, Milan will battle against their legend Andriy Shevchenko, who picked up one point in two matches since taking over Genoa, without showing remarkable improvements compared to the previous regime. Napoli will attempt to maintain their solo lead against Sassuolo on the road, which just toppled the Rossoneri and have shown better in big matches than in easier ones. The matchday will be completed Thursday with Torino-Empoli in a battle between two rather serene minnows and Lazio-Udinese, with the Biancocelesti looking to get off the mat after an ugly tumble in Naples, while the Zebrette have been treading water for a while.
Major muscular injuries hit a few teams over the weekend. Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Pellegrini will be out till after the Winter break due to a thigh strain. Andrea Belotti is awaiting the test results but is likely to be in the same situation. Roberto Pereyra is being evaluated for a shoulder injury. Robin Gosens slowed down in rehab and will not be back soon.
ATALANTA-VENEZIA
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Demiral, Palomino, Djimsiti; Hateboer, Koopmeiners, Pessina, Pezzella; Ilicic, Pasalic; Muriel.
Ruled Out: Gosens (thigh strain), Lovato (thigh strain).
Venezia (4-3-3): Romero; Mazzocchi, Caldara, Ceccaroni, Haps; Ampadu, Tessmann, Busio; Kiyine, Henry, Johnsen.
Ruled Out: Vacca (heel soreness), Sigurdsson (knee sprain), Ebuehi (thigh strain), Fiordilino (sports hernia).
FIORENTINA-SAMPDORIA
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Dragowski; Venuti, Martinez Quarta, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Callejon, Vlahovic, Sottil.
Ruled Out: Nastasic (calf strain), Dragowski (thigh strain), Pulgar (ankle sprain), Castrovilli (thigh muscle fatigue), Kokorin (thigh injury).
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Ferrari, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Adrien Silva, Verre; Caputo, Gabbiadini.
Ruled Out: Damsgaard (thigh strain), Ihattaren (personal), Vieira (foot fracture), Torregrossa (thigh injury), Depaoli (muscle fatigue).
Suspensions: Ekdal.
SALERNITANA-JUVENTUS
Salernitana (4-4-2): Belec; Veseli, Gyomber, Gagliolo, Ranieri; Kechrida, L.Coulibaly, Capezzi, Zortea; Simy, Bonazzoli.
Potential changes: Zortea/Ribery, Veseli/Schiavone, Djuric/Simy.
Ruled Out: M.Coulibaly (thigh strain), Ruggeri (thigh strain), Gondo (thigh injury), Kastanos, Strandberg (muscle fatigue), Ribery (illness).
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, Chiellini, De Ligt, Pellegrini; Kulusevski, Bentancur, Locatelli, Bernardeschi; Dybala, Kean.
Ruled Out: Chiesa (thigh strain), Danilo (thigh strain), De Sciglio (thigh strain), McKennie (knee sprain), Ramsey (thigh injury).
VERONA-CAGLIARI
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Ceccherini; Faraoni, Ilic, Veloso, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Simeone.
Ruled Out: Kalinic (calf strain), Hongla (COVID), Frabotta (Achilles tendon partial tear).
Cagliari (3-5-2): Radunovic; Caceres, Godin, Carboni, Lykogiannis; Bellanova, Nandez, Strootman, Dalbert; Pavoletti, Keita.
Ruled Out: Godin (muscle fatigue), Cragno (personal), Rog (ACL tear), Walukiewicz (femoroacetabular impingement), Faragò (hip surgery), Farias (calf injury).
BOLOGNA-ROMA
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; Orsolini, Dominguez, Svanberg, Hickey; Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Potential changes: Soumaoro/Bonifazi, Medel/Binks, Orsolini/De Silvestri.
Questionable: De Silvestri (thigh strain)
Ruled Out: Schouten (thigh injury), Kingsley (fibula fracture).
Roma (3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Veretout, Diawara, Mkhitaryan, El Shaarawy; Zaniolo, Abraham.
Potential changes: Smalling/Kumbulla, Diawara/Carles Perez, El Shaarawy/Vina.
Ruled Out: Pellegrini (thigh sprain), Villar, Cristante (COVID), Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear).
INTER-SPEZIA
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, Bastoni, Dimarco; Dumfries, Vidal, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Potential changes: Vidal/Barella, Perisic/D’Ambrosio, Dzeko/Correa.
Probable: Vidal (illness), Alex Sanchez (thigh injuries).
Ruled Out: Darmian, Ranocchia (thigh injuries), Eriksen (heart issues), De Vrij (thigh injury).
Spezia (4-3-3): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou, Bastoni; Maggiore, Sala, Kovalenko; Gyasi, Nzola, Verde.
Potential changes: Amian/Ferrer, Bastoni/Reca, Verde/Strelec.
Probable: Verde (muscle fatigue), Bourabia (calf strain).
Ruled Out: Sena (failed physical).
GENOA-MILAN
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Biraschi, Vasquez, Masiello; Sabelli, Sturaro, Badelj, Rovella, Cambiaso; Pandev, Ekuban.
Potential changes: Biraschi/Vanheusden, Sturaro/Behrami, Ekuban/Bianchi.
Questionable: Kallon (thigh injury).
Doubtful: Destro (thigh strain), Fares (thigh strain).
Ruled Out: Criscito (thigh strain), Caicedo (thigh strain), Maksimovic (thigh strain), Cassata (knee surgery).
Milan (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Kessié, Tonali; Messias, Krunic, Saelemaekers; Ibrahimovic.
Potential changes: Messias/Leao, Saelemaekers/Florenzi, Krunic/Brahim Diaz.
Probable: Tomori (hip injury).
Doubtful: Castillejo (thigh strain).
Ruled Out: Rebic, Giroud (thigh strains), Calabria (calf strain), Bennacer (illness).
Suspensions: Romagnoli.
SASSUOLO-NAPOLI
Sassuolo (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Maxime Lopez, Henrique; Berardi, Scamacca, Raspadori.
Potential changes: Toljan/Muldur, Matheus Henrique/Traorè, Scamacca/Defrel.
Probable: Matheus Henrique.
Ruled Out: Djuricic, Boga (thigh injuries), Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear), Goldaniga.
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Lobotka; Lozano, Zielinski, Insigne; Mertens.
Potential changes: Lobotka/Demme, Zelinski/Elmas, Mertens/Petagna.
Probable: Politano (COVID), Ounas (thigh strain).
Ruled Out: Osimhen (facial fracture), Anguissa (thigh strain), Zanoli (COVID).
TORINO-EMPOLI
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Bremer, Izzo; Vojvoda, Pobega, Lukic, Aina; Praet, Brekalo; Sanabria.
Potential changes: Izzo/Buongiorno, Vojvoda/Singo, Praet/Linetty.
Questionable: Singo (ankle sprain), Buongiorno (knee bruise), Djidji (thigh injury), Verdi (thigh strain).
Ruled Out: Belotti, Ansaldi, Rodriguez (thigh strains), Mandragora (meniscus injury), Edera (ACL tear).
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Tonelli, Luperto, Marchizza; Haas, Ricci, Bandinelli; Henderson; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.
Potential changes: Tonelli/Romagnoli, Henderson/Cutrone, Di Francesco/Bajrami.
Questionable: Zurkowski (back pain).
LAZIO-UDINESE
Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Lazzari, Patric, Acerbi, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni.
Potential changes: Hysaj/Marusic, Cataldi/Lucas Leiva, Zaccagni/Pedro.
Questionable: Pedro (knee bruise), Marusic (post-COVID).
Ruled Out: Adekanye (meniscus injury).
Suspensions: Luiz Felipe.
Udinese (3-4-2-1): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Walace, Arslan, Udogie; Pussetto, Deulofeu; Beto.
Potential changes: Arslan/Makengo, Pussetto/Samardzic, Deulofeu/Success.
Ruled Out: Pereyra (collarbone sprain).