Serie A are quickly back on the pitch for Round 18, the penultimate before the winter break. It will be a spicy one thanks to a pair of highly-anticipated tilts. Atalanta and Roma will square off Saturday, with the streaky Bergamaschi looking to quash José Mourinho’s Champions League hopes, maybe for good. The matchday will be capped off by Milan and Napoli, with a lot still on the line even though it has lost some of its luster due to the recent slide of both teams, the Azzurri in particular.
Things will get started with two Friday contests. Lazio will seek to put behind yet another stumble while hosting Genoa. Inter will visit Salernitana searching for their sixth consecutive win, which would allow them to stay top of the league regardless of what happens on other pitches. On Saturday, Juventus will face Bologna away, attempting to amend the Venezia stumble. The Felsinei are coming off two poor performances in a row. There will be heavy points on the line in the relegation struggle in Cagliari-Udinese later that day.
Fiorentina will seek their fourth straight win in Sunday’s lunch versus Sassuolo, which have made it a habit of taking down top teams. Dark clouds are gathering over Thiago Motta’s head, and he will need a positive result to make it to Christmas, but Spezia will have to deal with high-flying Empoli. Instead, both Sampdoria and Venezia could build on their recent slum-busting results. Torino and Verona will lock horns in a battle between intense minnows before the main event du jour.
On the injury front, multiple teams are dealing with dings and bruises. The Rossoneri and the Partenopei are hoping for some recoveries, but they risk being very depleted once again. Juventus are hoping for good news on Paulo Dybala, who is in doubt with a minor problem. They will have back Dejan Kulusevski and Weston McKennie, though. Empoli’s Nicolas Haas tore his ACL midweek.
LAZIO-GENOA
Lazio (4-3-3): Strakosha; Hysaj, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Basic; Pedro, Felipe Anderson, Zaccagni.
Ruled Out: Adekanye (meniscus injury).
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Vanheusden, Vasquez, Criscito; Ghiglione, Sturaro, Badelj, Portanova, Cambiaso; Pandev, Destro.
Ruled Out: Rovella, Caicedo, Maksimovic (thigh strains), Fares (calf strain), Cassata (knee surgery), Behrami, Marchetti.
SALERNITANA-INTER
Salernitana (5-3-2): Belec; Delli Carri, Bogdan, Gyomber, Gagliolo, Ranieri; Kechrida, L.Coulibaly, Kastanos, Obi; Ribery, Simy.
Ruled Out: Strandberg (sports hernia), M.Coulibaly, Ruggeri (thigh strains), Veseli (thigh injury), Capezzi (knee tendonitis).
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Alexis Sanchez.
Ruled Out: Correa (thigh injuries), Eriksen (heart issues), Darmian (thigh injury).
ATALANTA-ROMA
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Toloi, Djimsiti, Palomino; Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler, Pezzella; Ilicic, Pasalic; Zapata.
Ruled Out: Gosens (thigh strain).
Roma (3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Veretout, Cristante, Mkhitaryan, Vina; Zaniolo, Abraham.
Ruled Out: Pellegrini (thigh strain), El Shaarawy (calf strain), Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear).
Suspensions: Afena-Gyan.
BOLOGNA-JUVENTUS
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; De Silvestri, Dominguez, Svanberg, Hickey; Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Ruled Out: Schouten (thigh injury), Kingsley (fibula fracture).
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Bonucci, Pellegrini; McKennie, Arthur, Rabiot, Bernardeschi; Kean, Morata.
Ruled Out: Chiesa, Danilo (thigh strains), Dybala, Ramsey (thigh injuries), Chiellini.
CAGLIARI-UDINESE
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Caceres, Godin, Carboni; Bellanova, Deiola, Marin, Grassi, Dalbert; Joao Pedro, Keita.
Potential changes: Deiola/Nandez, Dalbert/Lykogiannis, Keita/Pavoletti.
Probable: Nandez (thigh soreness), Ceppitelli (muscle fatigue).
Ruled Out: Strootman (knee surgery), Rog (ACL tear), Walukiewicz (femoroacetabular impingement), Faragò (hip surgery).
Udinese (3-5-2): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Arslan, Walace, Makengo, Udogie; Deulofeu, Becao.
Potential changes: Samir/Nehuen Perez, Arslan/Samardzic, Deulofeu/Pussetto.
Ruled Out: Pereyra (collarbone surgery).
Suspensions: Success.
FIORENTINA-SASSUOLO
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Gonzalez, Vlahovic, Sottil.
Potential changes: Duncan/Castrovilli, Sottil/Callejon, Gonzalez/Saponara.
Probable: Castrovilli (quad muscle fatigue), Nastasic (calf strain).
Ruled Out: Pulgar (ankle sprain), Dragowski (thigh strain).
Sassuolo (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Frattesi, Maxime Lopez, Traoré; Berardi, Scamacca, Raspadori.
Potential changes: Toljan/Muldur, Traoré/Matheus Henrique, Raspadori/Boga.
Probable: Ferrari, Berardi (muscle fatigue).
Ruled Out: Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear), Djuricic (thigh injury).
Suspensions: Ayhan.
SPEZIA-EMPOLI
Spezia (3-5-2): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou; Gyasi, Kovalenko, Kiwior, Maggiore, Reca; Nzola, Manaj.
Potential changes: Kiwior/Agudelo, Reca/Bastoni, Nzola/Strelec.
Ruled Out: Sena (failed physical), Sala (calf injury), Salcedo (knee soreness), Verde (thigh injury), Bourabia.
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Tonelli, Luperto, Parisi; Zurkowski, Ricci, Henderson; Bajrami; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.
Potential changes: Luperto/Viti, Bajrami/Bandinelli, Di Francesco/Cutrone.
Ruled Out: Haas (ACL tear).
SAMPDORIA-VENEZIA
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Thorsby; Caputo, Gabbiadini.
Potential changes: Yoshida/Ferrari, Adrien Silva/Verre, Caputo/Quagliarella.
Ruled Out: Damsgaard (thigh strain), Ihattaren (personal), Torregrossa (calf injury), Vieira (foot fracture).
Venezia (4-3-3): Romero; Ebuehi, Caldara, Ceccaroni, Molinaro; Crnigoj, Ampadu, Busio; Aramu, Henry, Johnsen.
Potential changes: Molinaro/Mazzocchi, Crnigoj/Vacca, Johnsen/Kiyine.
Questionable: Vacca (foot injury).
Ruled Out: Okereke (thigh strain), Haps (thigh muscle fatigue), Modolo (thigh contracture).
TORINO-VERONA
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Buongiorno, Rodriguez; Singo, Pobega, Lukic, Vojvoda; Praet, Brekalo; Sanabria.
Potential changes: Rodriguez/Bremer, Vojvoda/Aina, Brekalo/Pjaca.
Questionable: Bremer (calf injury), Verdi, Djidji (thigh strains).
Ruled Out: Belotti (thigh strain), Edera (ACL tear).
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Ceccherini, Magnani, Casale; Faraoni, Tameze, Veloso, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Simeone.
Potential changes: Magnani/Sutalo, Veloso/Ilic, Barak/Lasagna.
Ruled Out: Dawidowicz (ACL tear), Gunter, Kalinic (calf strains), Frabotta (Achilles tendon partial tear).
MILAN-NAPOLI
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kalulu, Tomori, Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Kessié, Tonali; Messias, Brahim Diaz, Saelemaekers; Ibrahimovic.
Potential changes: Kalulu/Florenzi, Hernandez/Ballo-Touré, Saelemaekers/Krunic.
Questionable: Giroud (thigh strain), Hernandez (illness).
Ruled Out: Rebic, Calabria, Pellegri (thigh strains), Kjaer (ACL tear), Calabria (calf strain), Leao (thigh strain).
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Malcuit, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Di Lorenzo; Anguissa, Demme; Lozano, Zielinski, Elmas; Mertens.
Potential changes: Malcuit/Di Lorenzo, Lozano/Politano, Elmas/Petagna.
Probable: Zielinski (illness), Elmas (calf bruise), Lobotka (thigh contusion).
Ruled Out: Koulibaly (thigh strain), Osimhen (facial fracture), Insigne (calf soreness), Fabian Ruiz (hip tendonitis), Mario Rui (muscle fatigue).