Serie A are back to their regularly programmed schedule following a three-game week. However, Round 17 does not feature any head-to-head clash at the top of the standings. It will be opened by one of the most interesting games on deck, the Derby della Lanterna between Genoa and Sampdoria. Both sides are going through a particular moment. Andriy Shevchenko is still looking to find his stride at the helm of the Grifone. Instead, the Blucerchiati president Massimo Ferrero was arrested while he was trying to replace Roberto D’Aversa.
On Saturday, Fiorentina will seek their third straight win against the reeling Salernitana and Frack Ribery. Juventus could have the same achievement while visiting Venezia. Milan will look to protect their narrow lead atop of the standing in an away fixture against Udinese, which just fired their coach and have yet to bring in a permanent solution.
Two of the most solid minnows, Torino and Bologna, will square off in Sunday’s lunch match. Atalanta are poised for a high-intensity bout with Verona, which have a fairly similar playing style. Napoli will look to return to winning ways after the tough loss to La Dea and a draw with Sassuolo, but they will have to deal with the pesky Empoli, which have lost just once in the past six tilts.
Lazio will attempt to build on a rare comfortable road victory while doing battle with the giant-killing Sassuolo, which are at their best in the more challenging fixtures. Inter are riding a four-game winning streak and will have good chances to extend it against Cagliari. The Sardinians have not triumphed in a long while but have collected four ties in a row. Roma will wrap things up by hosting Spezia Monday night. The Giallorossi need to get back on track after two dispiriting defeats.
It has been a relatively clean week in terms of injuries for the top teams, with only Joaquin Correa getting hurt for Inter. On the other hand, Verona likely lost Pawel Dawidowicz for the season due to an ACL tear, while Kevin Strootman will miss two months due to knee surgery.
GENOA-SAMPDORIA
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Vanheusden, Masiello, Criscito; Ghiglione, Hernani, Badelj, Sturaro, Cambiaso; Pandev, Ekuban.
Ruled Out: Rovella, Caicedo, Maksimovic (thigh strains), Cassata (knee surgery), Fares (calf injury).
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Adrien Silva, Ekdal, Thorsby; Caputo, Gabbiadini.
Ruled Out: Damsgaard (thigh strain), Ihattaren (personal), Torregrossa (calf injury), Vieira (foot fracture).
FIORENTINA-SALERNITANA
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Callejon, Vlahovic, Gonzalez.
Ruled Out: Nastasic (calf strain), Castrovilli (quad muscle fatigue), Dragowski (thigh strain).
Salernitana (3-5-2): Belec; Veseli, Gyomber, Bogdan; Kechrida, Kastanos, L.Coulibaly, Obi, Ranieri; Ribery, Simy.
Ruled Out: Strandberg (sports hernia), M.Coulibaly, Ruggeri (thigh strains), Djuric (close contact), Capezzi (knee soreness), Gondo (thigh injury), Zortea (thigh muscle fatigue).
VENEZIA-JUVENTUS
Venezia (4-3-3): Romero; Ebuehi, Caldara, Modolo, Haps; Crnigoj, Ampadu, Busio; Aramu, Henry, Johnsen.
Ruled Out: Okereke (thigh strain), Fiordilino (sports hernia), Vacca (foot injury).
Suspensions: Ceccaroni.
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; De Sciglio, De Ligt, Bonucci, Pellegrini; Cuadrado, Rabiot, Locatelli, Bernardeschi; Dybala, Morata.
Ruled Out: Chiesa, Danilo (thigh strains), Kulusevki (sinus surgery), Ramsey (thigh injury), McKennie (knee sprain), Arthur (coach’s decision).
UDINESE-MILAN
Udinese (4-4-2): Silvestri; Perez, Becao, Nuytinck, Udogie; Molina, Walace, Arslan, Makengo; Deulofeu, Beto.
Ruled Out: Pereyra (collarbone surgery), Larsen (contractual dispute).
Suspensions: Samir.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Tomori, Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Bakayoko, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Krunic; Ibrahimovic.
Ruled Out: Leao, Giroud, Rebic, Pellegri (thigh strains), Kjaer (ACL tear), Calabria (thigh strain).
TORINO-BOLOGNA
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Pobega, Lukic, Vojvoda; Praet, Pjaca; Sanabria.
Questionable: Pobega (muscle fatigue), Linetty (illness), Mandragora (meniscus tear), Verdi (thigh strain).
Ruled Out: Belotti, Djidji (thigh strains), Edera (ACL tear).
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; De Silvestri, Soriano, Svanberg, Hickey; Skov Olsen, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Ruled Out: Schouten (thigh injury), Kingsley (fibula fracture).
Suspensions: Dominguez.
VERONA-ATALANTA
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Ceccherini, Magnani, Casale; Faraoni, Tameze, Ilic, Lazovic; Lasagna, Caprari; Simeone.
Ruled Out: Dawidowicz (ACL tear), Gunter, Kalinic (calf strains), Frabotta (Achilles tendon partial tear), Hongla (COVID).
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Toloi, Djimsiti, Demiral; Zappacosta, De Roon, Koopmeiners, Pezzella; Miranchuk, Pasalic; Muriel.
Ruled Out: Gosens (thigh strain).
Suspensions: Malinovskyi.
NAPOLI-EMPOLI
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui; Zielinski, Demme; Lozano, Elmas, Ounas; Mertens.
Ruled Out: Koulibaly (thigh strain), Osimhen (facial fracture), Fabian Ruiz (hip soreness), Lobotka (thigh contusion), Fabian Ruiz (hip soreness).
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Parisi; Henderson, Stulac, Zurkowski; Bajrami; Cutrone, Pinamonti.
SASSUOLO-LAZIO
Sassuolo (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Maxime Lopez, Traoré; Berardi, Scamacca, Raspadori.
Ruled Out: Djuricic (thigh injury), Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).
Lazio (4-3-3): Strakosha; Hysaj, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Marusic; Akpa Akpro, Cataldi, Basic; Pedro, Immobile, Zaccagni.
Ruled Out: Adekanye (meniscus injury), Luis Alberto (thigh injury).
Suspensions: Milinkovic-Savic.
INTER-CAGLIARI
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Alexis Sanchez, Lautaro Martinez.
Ruled Out: Correa, Darmian (thigh injuries), Eriksen (heart issues), Ranocchia (thigh injuries).
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Caceres, Godin, Carboni; Bellanova, Deiola, Marin, Grassi, Dalbert; Joao Pedro, Keita.
Ruled Out: Strootman (knee surgery), Rog (ACL tear), Walukiewicz (femoroacetabular impingement), Faragò (hip surgery), Nandez (thigh muscle fatigue(.
ROMA-SPEZIA
Roma (3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Kumbulla, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Veretout, Cristante, Mkhitaryan, Vina; Mayoral, Abraham.
Potential changes: Kumbulla/Diawara, Mayoral/Shomurodov.
Probable: Afena-Gyan (COVID).
Ruled Out: Pellegrini (thigh strain), El Shaarawy (calf strain), Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear), Carles Perez (muscle fatigue).
Suspensions: Mancini, Zaniolo.
Spezia (4-3-3): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou, Bastoni; Maggiore, Sala, Kovalenko; Gyasi, Manaj, Verde.
Potential changes: Bastoni/Reca, Sala/Ferrer, Verde/Strelec.
Ruled Out: Sena (failed physical), Nzola (coach’s decision).