The international break is finally over, and it’s time to take a look at the expected lineups for Serie A Round 3. This weekend’s menu offers two mouthwatering battles that could already say a lot about the possible contenders for the title.
On Saturday night, Napoli will welcome Juventus at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium after successfully winning an appeal that reduced Victor Osimhen’s suspension from two to one games. The big Nigerian will thus be ready to spearhead Luciano Spalletti’s and the Partenopei‘s attack. Massimiliano Allegri, on the other hand, could not count on the injured Federico Chiesa and there is a chance he may deploy new (old?) joiner Moise Kean from the start.
On Sunday, Milan and Lazio square off at the San Siro Stadium, both coming from back-to-back wins in the first two match days. The news of the day is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is expected to make his come back from the start after recovering from an injury that ruled him out since May.
But there’s much more that the Serie A menu will offer, so without further ado, let’s dive straight into it and take a look at the expected lineups for the calcio weekend.
Empoli vs Venezia – Official
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Marchizza; Haas, Ricci, Bandinelli; Bajrami; Mancuso, Cutrone.
Ruled Out: Fiamozzi (thigh strain), Parisi (leg fracture).
Venezia (4-3-3): Lezzerini; Mazzocchi, Caldara, Ceccaroni, Schnegg; Fiordilini, Vacca, Busio; Aramu, Henry, Johnsen.
Ruled Out: Ala-Myllymaki (knee cartilage tear), Peretz (bruised knee), Ampadu (paperwork).
Napoli vs Juventus – Official
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Anguissa; Politano, Elmas, Insigne; Osimhen.
Ruled Out: Meret (back transverse process factor), Demme (MCL tear), Ghoulam (ACL tear), Mertens (shoulder surgery), Demme (MCL tear), Lobotka (thigh pull).
Juventus (4-3-3): Szczesny; De Sciglio, Bonucci, Chiellini, Pellegrini; McKennie, Locatelli, Rabiot; Kulusevski, Morata, Bernardeschi.
Ruled Out: Dybala, Danilo, Alex Sandro, Bentancur (traveling).Chiesa (thigh soreness), Arthur (lower leg ossification), Kaio Jorge (thigh strain), Ramsey (thigh strain).
Atalanta vs Fiorentina – Official
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Sportiello; Toloi, Palomino, Djimsiti; Maehle, Pasalic, Freuler, Zappacosta; Miranchuk, Pessina; Zapata.
Ruled Out: Muriel (thigh strain), Hateboer (foot microfracture).
Suspensions: De Roon.
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Venuti, Milenkovic, Nastasic, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Callejon, Vlahovic, Sottil.
Sampdoria vs Inter – Official
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Adrien Silva, Damsgaard; Caputo, Quagliarella.
Ruled Out: Gabbiadini (ankle sprain), Bereszynski (thigh soreness), Ekdal (back pain), Vieira.
Inter (3-5-1-1): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Dimarco; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Sensi; Dzeko.
Ruled Out: Bastoni (thigh muscle fatigue).
Cagliari vs Genoa – Official
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Walukiewicz, Ceppitelli, Carboni; Zappa, Grassi, Deiola, Marin, Dalbert; Joao Pedro, Kieta.
Probable: Cragno (hip strain), Ceppitelli (back pain).
Ruled Out: Rog (ACL tear), Ceter (calf pull), Godin (sore patellar tendon), Strootman (thigh bruise).
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Biraschi, Maksimovic, Criscito; Sabelli, Sturaro, Rovella, Touré, Cambiaso; Pandev, Destro.
Ruled Out: Cassata (knee surgery), Caicedo (muscle fatigue), Badelj, Bianchi, Masiello, Andrenacci (conditioning).
Spezia vs Udinese – Official
Spezia (3-4-3): Zoet; Ferrer, Hristov, Nikolaou, Bastoni; Sala, Kovalenko; Gyasi, Antiste, Colley.
Ruled Out: Sena (failed physical), Erlic (thigh injury), Sher, Podgoreanu (traveling), Nzola (conditioning).
Suspensions: Amian.
Udinese (3-5-2): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Arslan, Walace, Pereyra, Stryger Larsen; Deulofeu, Pussetto.
Ruled Out: Udogie (hip strain), Nestorovski (ACL tear), Success (stomach bug).
Torino vs Salernitana – Official
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Lukic, Mandragora, Ansaldi; Pjaca, Linetty; Sanabria.
Ruled Out: Edera (ACL tear), Belotti (bruised fibula), Belotti (bruised fibula), Izzo (bruised calf), Verdi (thigh pull), Zaza (knee sprain).
Salernitana (3-5-2): Belec; Gyomber, Strandberg, Gagliolo; Kechrida, M.Coulibaly, Di Tacchio, Obi, Ruggeri; Simy, Bonazzoli.
Ruled Out: Capezzi (knee sprain), Veseli (knee sprain), Jaroszynski, Aya (muscle fatigue).
Milan vs Lazio – Official
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Kessié, Tonali; Florenzi, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao; Rebic.
Ruled Out: Krunic (calf soreness), Giroud (COVID), Messias (conditioning).
Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Marusic, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
Ruled Out: Adekanye (meniscus tear).
Roma vs Sassuolo – Official
Roma (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ibanez, Vina; Cristante, Veretout; Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan; Abraham.
Potential changes: Calafiori/Smalling, Zaniolo/Carles Perez, Mkhitaryan/Shomurodov.
Ruled Out: Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear).
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Maxime Lopez, Frattesi; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga, Raspadori.
Ruled Out: Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).
Bologna vs Verona
Bologna (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; De Silvestri, Soumaoro, Bonifazi, Hickey; Dominguez, Svanberg; Orsolini, Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Potential changes: Soumaoro/Medel, Hickey/Dijks, Barrow/Sansone.
Probable: Dijks (foot edema), Vignato (thigh soreness).
Ruled Out: Schouten, Kingsley.
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Magnani; Faraoni, Ilic, Tameze, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Simeone.
Potential changes: Mangani/Ceccherini, Tameze/Hongla, Caprari/Cancellieri.
Ruled Out: Ruegg (tendon issue), Frabotta (calf injury), Sutalo (calf injury), Veloso (thigh strain).
