Serie A elected not to take a break and made a big effort not to have COVID-19 affect two straight rounds. The League got a few quarantines shortened through civil appeals, and therefore all matches with take place barring late outbreaks. Torino-Fiorentina has been rescheduled for Monday, Cagliari-Bologna for Tuesday.
Round 21 will be opened by Milan visiting Venezia looking to maintain the pressure on Inter after the commanding win over Roma. Later on, Empoli will collide with Sassuolo in what should be a fast-paced bout. The resilient Napoli will seek to overcome the absences again versus Sampdoria, which are coming off a bad loss to Cagliari and might be equally depleted. Genoa and Spezia will square off in a crucial regional derby as far as the relegation struggle is concerned. Verona will have a prime opportunity to get another win against a very undermanned Salernitana, and the same goes for Atalanta in the Udinese bout.
Serie A will save the best for last as Roma and Juventus will come to blows in the late afternoon, and both sides need a positive result to stay close to the top four. Inter will open their 2022 versus Lazio, which were held to a tie by Empoli and has generally had troubles combating top clubs. On Monday, Fiorentina will seek to kick off the new year with a bang against a Torino side that has been excellent at home. Cagliari could make a big jump if they managed to take advantage of Bologna’s troubles and get the second win in a row.
VENEZIA-MILAN
Venezia (4-3-3): Romero; Mazzocchi, Svoboda, Ceccaroni, Haps; Busio, Ampadu, Cuisance; Aramu, Henry, Okereke.
Potential changes: Cuisance/Crnigoj, Henry/Johnsen, Okereke/Kiyine.
Probable: Kiyine (thigh injury).
Ruled Out: Ebuehi (AFCON), Vacca.
Suspensions: Caldara, Tessmann.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Kalulu, Gabbia, Theo Hernandez; Bakayoko, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Ibrahimovic.
Potential changes: Bakayoko/Krunic, Saelemaekers/Messias, Ibrahimovic/Giroud.
Ruled Out: Kessié, Bennacer, Ballo-Touré (AFCON), Tatarusanu, Tomori, Romagnoli, Calabria, Castillejo (COVID-19), Pellegri (thigh strain), Kjaer (ACL tear).
EMPOLI-SASSUOLO
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Marchizza; Zurkowski, Ricci, Henderson; Bajrami; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.
Potential changes: Ismajli/Tonelli, Bajrami/Stulac, Di Francesco/Cutrone.
Probable: Cutrone, Tonelli.
Doubtful: Romagnoli (muscle fatigue).
Ruled Out: Parisi (thigh strain), Haas (ACL tear).
Suspensions: Bandinelli, Luperto.
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Harroui, Maxime Lopez; Berardi, Raspadori, Kyriakopoulos; Defrel.
Potential changes: Toljan/Muldur, Chiriches/Ayhan.
Questionable: Magnanelli (thigh injury), Matheus Henrique (calf injury), Scamacca, Frattesi.
Ruled Out: Traorè, Boga (AFCON), Peluso, Goldaniga (COVID-19), Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).
UDINESE-ATALANTA
Udinese (3-4-3): Padelli; Becao, Nuytinck, Neheun Perez; Molina, Arslan, Makengo, Udogie; Pussetto, Success, Deulofeu.
Potential changes: Udogie/De Maio, Arslan/Fedrizzi.
Questionable: Beto, Silvestri, Makengo, Zeegelar, Nestorovski, Samardzic, Jajalo, Soppy.
Ruled Out: Pereyra (collarbone surgery).
Note: Udinese have 12 unnamed COVID-19 cases.
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Toloi, Demiral, Djimsitit; Hateboer, De Roon, Koopmeiners, Zappacosta; Malinovskyi, Pasalic; Muriel.
Potential changes: Musso/Rossi, Zappacosta/Maehle, Pasalic/Pessina.
Questionable: Musso, Palomino (return from COVID-19), Sportiello (stomach bug).
Ruled Out: Gosens (thigh strain).
Suspensions: Freuler.
NAPOLI-SAMPDORIA
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan Jesus, Ghoulam; Demme, Lobotka; Politano, Elmas, Insigne; Mertens.
Potential changes: Ghoulam/Zanoli, Elmas/Petagna.
Questionable: Fabian Ruiz (hip soreness).
Ruled Out: Koulibaly, Anguissa, Ounas (AFCON), Mario Rui, Meret, Lozano, Malcuit (COVID-19), Osimhen (facial fracture).
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Dragusin, Ferrari, Chabot, Murru; Thorsby, Rincon, Ekdal, Askildsen; Caputo, Gabbiadini.
Potential changes: Murru/Augello, Rincon/Ciervo, Caputo/Quagliarella
Probable: Augello, Falcone (return from COVID-19).
Ruled Out: Colley (AFCON), Yoshida (thigh strain), Damsgaard (knee infection), Ihattaren (personal), Bereszynski.
Suspensions: Candreva.
GENOA-SPEZIA
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Vanheusden, Bani, Vasquez; Hefti, Sturaro, Badelj, Portanova, Cambiaso; Ekuban, Destro.
Potential changes: Vanheusden/Biraschi, Sturaro/Melegoni, Ekuban/Caicedo.
Questionable: Criscito (return from COVID-19, calf injury), Kallon, Behrami.
Ruled Out: Rovella, Maksimovic (thigh strains).
Spezia (3-5-2): Provedel; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou; Gyasi, Maggiore, Sala, Bastoni, Reca; Verde, Antiste.
Potential changes: Sala/Kiwior, Verde/Strelec, Antiste/Manaj.
Probable: Kovalenko, Nzola, Manaj, Hristov (return from COVID-19).
Ruled Out: Colley (AFCON), Sena (failed physical).
Suspensions: Agudelo.
ROMA-JUVENTUS
Roma (3-5-2): Rui Patricio; Kumbulla, Smalling, Ibanez; Maitland-Niles, Pellegrini, Veretout, Cristante, El Shaarawy; Mkhitaryan, Abraham.
Potential changes: Maitland-Niles/Vina, Veretout/Shomurodov, Mkhitaryan/Zaniolo.
Questionable: Zaniolo.
Ruled Out: Fuzato, Mayoral (COVID-19), Diawara, Darboe (AFCON), Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear).
Suspensions: Karsdorp, Mancini.
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, Rugani, De Ligt, De Sciglio; Chiesa, Bentancur, Locatelli, McKennie; Dybala, Kean.
Potential changes: Bentancur/Rabiot, McKennie/Bernardeschi, Kean/Morata.
Probable: Pellegrini, Kaio Jorge (flu).
Ruled Out: Pinsoglio (COVID-19), Bonucci, Danilo, Ramsey (thigh injuries), Alex Sandro (thigh injury).
INTER-LAZIO
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Vidal, Perisic; Alexis Sanchez, Lautaro Martinez.
Potential changes: Bastoni/Dimarco, Vidal/Gagliardini, Sanchez/Correa.
Questionable: Dzeko (return from COVID-19).
Ruled Out: Satriano, Cordaz (COVID-19).
Suspensions: Calhanoglu.
Lazio (4-3-3): Strakosha; Hysaj, Luiz Felipe, Radu, Marusic; Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Basic; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
Potential changes: Radu/Patric, Basic/Luis Alberto, Pedro/Zaccagni.
Ruled Out: Acerbi (thigh strain), Akpa Akpro (AFCON).
VERONA-SALERNITANA
Verona (3-4-2-1): Pandur; Casale, Gunter, Ceccherini; Depaoli, Tameze, Veloso, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Simeone.
Potential changes: Ceccherini/Sutalo, Depaoli/Ilic, Barak/Lasagna.
Ruled Out: Montipò, Faraoni, Magnani, Cetin, Ragusa, Cancellieri, Coppola, Bessa (COVID-19), Dawidowicz (ACL tear), Frabotta (Achilles tendon partial tear), Hongla (AFCON).
Salernitana (3-5-2): Fiorillo; Veseli, Gyomber, Gagliolo; Delli Carri, Di Tacchio, Schiavone, Kastanos, Zortea; Djuric, Bonazzoli.
Potential changes: Gagiolo/Kechrida, Schiavone/M.Coulibaly, Bonazzoli/Gondo.
Probable: Bonazzoli, Veseli.
Questionable: Ribery, Ranieri, Bogdan, Obi, Simy, Strandberg (sports hernia), Ruggeri, M.Coulibaly (thigh strains), Vergani.
Ruled Out: L.Coulibaly (AFCON).
Note: Salernitana have several unnamed COVID-19 cases.
TORINO-FIORENTINA
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Bremer, Buongiorno; Singo, Pobega, Lukic, Vojvoda; Praet, Brekalo; Sanabria.
Potential changes: Buongiorno/Rodriguez, Vojvoda/Ansaldi, Brekalo/Pjaca.
Questionable: Verdi (thigh strain), Milinkovic-Savic, Berisha (thigh injury).
Ruled Out: Belotti (thigh strain), Ansaldi (COVID-19), Aina (AFCON), Edera (ACL tear).
Note: Torino have more unnamed COVID-19 cases.
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Castrovilli; Callejon, Vlahovic, Gonzalez.
Potential changes: Terracciano/Dragowski, Castrovilli/Duncan, Callejon/Ikoné.
Questionable: Benassi, Sottil.
Ruled Out: Amrabat (AFCON).
CAGLIARI-BOLOGNA
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Altare, Lovato, Carboni; Bellanova, Grassi, Marin, Deiola, Lykogiannis; Joao Pedro, Pavoletti.
Potential changes: Altare/Ceppitelli, Lykogiannis/Dalbert, Pavoletti/Pereiro.
Questionable: Ceppitelli (muscular injury).
Ruled Out: Nandez (COVID), Keita (AFCON), Strootman (knee surgery), Rog (ACL tear), Walukiewicz (femoroacetabular impingement).
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Bonifazi, Theate; De Silvestri, Soriano, Svanberg, Dijks; Orsolini, Sansone; Arnautovic.
Potential changes: Orsolini/Skov Olsen.
Ruled Out: Barrow, Mbaye (AFCON), Hickey, Medel, Vignato, Dominguez, Viola, Van Hooijdonk, Santander, (COVID-19), Schouten (thigh injury), Kingsley (fibula fracture).