It has been a rough start of 2022 for Serie A, with COVID-19 hitting most sides. Bologna-Inter, Atalanta-Torino, Salernitana-Venezia and Fiorentina-Udinese will not take place. Milan-Roma and Juventus-Napoli are in doubt.
If Coronavirus was not looming, it would be an intriguing round. In the two most anticipated matches, Juventus will look to close the gap on Napoli and drag them into the Champions League battle, while Milan will face Roma. The Bianconeri are riding a positive streak, while the Partenopei need to halt a worrisome slide, with injuries playing a big role. The Rossoneri did not finish 2021 all too well, but they topped Empoli in the final game. The Giallorossi seemed on the verge of a breakout with the two wins over Spezia and especially Atalanta, but they then dropped two points versus Sampdoria.
Sampdoria will host Cagliari and will seek to protect their cushion over the relegation zone. Lazio will have the opportunity to win three matches in a row for the first time in the season, but they will have to best the plucky Empoli. Spezia’s Thiago Motta saved his job by upsetting Napoli, and will search to maintain the momentum while defying Verona, which have visibly relented. Andriy Shevchenko will gun for his first Serie A victory versus Sassuolo, which have generally fared better against big teams than minnows.
No major injuries during the break, and several players have recovered from their previous problems. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paulo Dybala, Federico Chiesa, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne, Rafael Leao, Ante Rebic and Bartlomiej Dragowski are set to return. On the other hand, over 80 players are currently in the COVID-19 protocol, and 25 are unavailable because they are preparing for the African Cup of Nations.
SAMPDORIA-CAGLIARI
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Dragusin, Yoshida, Chabot, Murru; Bereszynski, Thorsby, Ekdal, Candreva; Caputo, Gabbiadini.
Potential changes: Chabot/Ferrari, Caputo/Quagliarella.
Probable: Ekdal, Vieira (foot fracture).
Ruled Out: Colley (AFCON), Augello, Falcone (COVID), Verre, Damsgaard (thigh strain), Ihattaren (personal).
Suspensions: Askildsen.
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Lovato, Ceppitelli, Carboni; Bellanova, Grassi, Marin, Deiola, Lykogiannis; Joao Pedro, Pavoletti.
Potential changes: Lovato/Zappa, Pavoletti/Pereiro.
Ruled Out: Nandez (COVID), Keita (AFCON), Strootman (knee surgery), Rog (ACL tear), Walukiewicz (femoroacetabular impingement), Oliva (personal).
Suspensions: Dalbert.
LAZIO-EMPOLI
Lazio (4-3-3): Strakosha; Hysaj, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
Potential changes: Luiz Felipe/Patric, Acerbi/Radu, Felipe Anderson/Zaccagni.
Probable: Hysaj (muscle fatigue), Zaccagni, Luis Alberto (COVID protocols), Luiz Felipe, Acerbi (thigh strain).
Doubtful: Basic.
Ruled Out: Akpa Akpro (AFCON).
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Tonelli, Luperto, Parisi; Zurkowski, Ricci, Henderson; Bajrami; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.
Potential changes: Parisi/Marchizza, Bajrami/Bandinelli, Di Francesco/Cutrone.
Ruled Out: Haas (ACL tear).
Note: Empoli have three unnamed COVID cases.
SPEZIA-VERONA
Spezia (3-5-2): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou; Gyasi, Maggiore, Bourabia, Bastoni, Reca; Agudelo, Strelec.
Potential changes: Bourabia/Kiwior, Bastoni/Sala, Strelec/Verde.
Probable: Verde, Salcedo (knee soreness), Bourabia, Sala (calf injury), Strelec (foot soreness).
Ruled Out: Kovalenko, Nzola, Manaj, Hristov (COVID), Colley (AFCON), Sena (failed physical).
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Sutalo, Casale, Ceccherini; Faraoni, Tameze, Veloso, Lazovic; Lasagna, Caprari; Simeone.
Potential changes: Sutalo/Ilic, Lasagna/Barak, Veloso/Bessa.
Questionable: Barak (back injury), Gunter, Kalinic (calf strains).
Ruled Out: Magnani (COVID), Dawidowicz (ACL tear), Frabotta (Achilles tendon partial tear), Hongla (AFCON).
Note: Verona have eight unnamed COVID cases.
SASSUOLO-GENOA
Sassuolo (4-3-3): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Maxime Lopez, Ayhan, Harroui; Berardi, Defrel, Raspadori.
Potential changes: Toljan/Muldur, Ayhan/Kyriakopoulos.
Ruled Out: Traorè (AFCON), Peluso, Goldaniga (COVID), Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear), Matheus Henrique (calf injury), Magnanelli (thigh injury), Scamacca, Fratessi (suspected COVID).
Note: Sassuolo have more COVID case.
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Biraschi, Bani, Vasquez; Ghiglione, Hernani, Badelj, Portanova, Cambiaso; Pandev, Destro.
Potential changes: Ghiglione/Hefti, Hernani/Melegoni, Pandev/Ekuban.
Probable: Vanheusden, Caicedo (thigh injuries), Fares (calf strain).
Questionable: Kallon, Behrami.
Ruled Out: Criscito (COVID), Rovella, Maksimovic (thigh strains).
Suspensions: Sturaro.
MILAN-ROMA
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Kalulu, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Bakayoko, Tonali; Messias, Brahim Diaz, Saelemaekers; Giroud.
Potential changes: Bakayoko/Krunic, Messias/Leao, Giroud/Ibrahimovic.
Probable: Ibrahimovic (knee soreness), Leao (thigh strain), Calabria (calf strain), Rebic (thigh strain).
Questionable: Calabria, Tomori, Romagnoli (suspected COVID).
Ruled Out: Kessié, Bennacer, Ballo-Touré (AFCON), Tatarusanu (COVID), Pellegri (thigh strains), Kjaer (ACL tear).
Roma (3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Veretout, Cristante, Pellegrini, Vina; Zaniolo, Abraham.
Potential changes: Pellegrini/Mkhitaryan, Vina/El Shaarawy, Zaniolo/Shomurodov.
Probable: El Shaarawy.
Ruled Out: Fuzato, Mayoral (COVID), Diawara, Darboe (AFCON), Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear).
Note: Roma have one more unnamed COVID case.
JUVENTUS-NAPOLI
Juventus (4-3-3): Szczesny; Cuadrado, De Ligt, Rugani, Alex Sandro; McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot; Chiesa, Morata, Bernardeschi.
Potential changes: McKennie/Bentancur, Chiesa/Dybala, Morata/Kean.
Probable: Chiesa, Dybala (thigh injuries).
Questionable: Kaio Jorge, Pellegrini (flu), Arthur (COVID).
Ruled Out: Bonucci (muscle fatigue), Chiellini, Pinsoglio (COVID), Danilo, Ramsey (thigh injuries).
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Ghoulam; Demme, Lobotka; Politano, Zielinski, Insigne; Mertens.
Potential changes: Rrhamani/Zanoli, Lobotka/Elmas, Zielinski/Petagna.
Probable: Insigne (return from COVID).
Questionable: Zielinski, Rrhamani, Lobotka (COVID protocols).
Ruled Out: Fabian Ruiz (hip injury), Koulibaly, Anguissa, Ounas (AFCON), Lozano, Malcuit (COVID), Osimhen (facial fracture).
Suspensions: Mario Rui.