The extra-long Round 4 of Serie A will develop in four days, and will culminate in Sunday’s clash between Juventus and Milan. It will be kicked off by an intriguing match between Sassuolo and Torino Friday night. The Granata grabbed their first victory last week. Genoa will host Fiorentina Saturday, as both sides will be looking to build on the impressive wins over Cagliari and Atalanta.
Inter will seek to get back on track after a minor misstep versus Sampdoria and the loss to Real Madrid against the high-flying Bologna. It will be a tall order for Fabrizio Castori to defend his job as Salernitana will tangle with Atalanta. Empoli and Sampdoria will square off in Sunday’s lunch match. There will be heavy points up for grabs in Venezia-Spezia as far as the relegation struggle is concerned.
Walter Mazzarri will commence his Cagliari stint by visiting an angry Lazio following the stumbles against Milan and Galatasary. Igor Tudor will face the other Rome-based team in his debut on the Verona bench. Udinese-Napoli will put a bow on the matchday Monday night, when the Partenopei will attempt to remain perfect in the season against an undefeated team.
From the injury standpoint, Juventus should have Federico Chiesa back, while there is now more pessimism about Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s recovery. Torino and Atalanta will have to make do again without their top strikers Andrea Belotti and Luis Muriel. Cagliari have several key players in doubt, and Verona and Venezia are rather banged up as well. Spezia lost Kevin Agudelo to a foot fracture and Ebrima Colley to a muscular problem, but they will get back Martin Erlic.
SASSUOLO-TORINO – Official
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).
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Lukic, Pobega, Lukic; Praet, Brekalo; Sanabria.
Ruled Out: Belotti (bruised fibula), Izzo (bruised calf), Zaza (knee sprain), Verdi (thigh pull), Edera (ACL tear).
GENOA-FIORENTINA – Official
Genoa (4-2-3-1): Sirigu; Cambiaso, Vanheusden, Maksimovic, Criscito; Touré, Badelj; Melegoni, Rovella, Fares; Destro.
Ruled Out: Cassata (knee surgery), Caicedo (muscle fatigue), Sturaro, Masiello, Ekuban.
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Dragowski; Odriozola, Martinez Quarta, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Pulgar, Castrovilli; Callejon, Vlahovic, Gonzalez.
Ruled Out: Venuti (calf injury).
INTER-BOLOGNA – Official
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Vecino, Dimarco; Correa, Lautaro Martinez.
Ruled Out: Eriksen (heart issues), Sensi (knee sprain), Vidal (muscle fatigue).
Bologna (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; De Silvestri, Medel, Bonifazi, Hickey; Dominguez, Svanberg; Skov Olsen, Soriano, Sansone; Arnautovic.
Ruled Out: Kingsley (thigh strain), Schouten (muscle fatigue).
SALERNITANA-ATALANTA – Official
Salernitana (3-4-1-2): Belec; Gyomber, Strandberg, Gagliolo; Kechrida, M.Coulibaly, L.Coulibaly, Ranieri; Ribery; Gondo, Simy.
Ruled Out: Ruggeri (thigh strain), Aya (muscle fatigue), Veseli, Capezzi (knee sprain)
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Toloi, Demiral, Djimsiti; Maehle, Pasalic, Freuler, Gosens; Malinovskyi, Miranchuk; Zapata.
Ruled Out: Muriel (thigh strain), Hateboer (foot microfracture).
Suspensions: De Roon.
EMPOLI-SAMPDORIA – Official
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Marchizza; Haas, Ricci, Henderson; Bajrami; Mancuso, Cutrone.
Ruled Out: Fiamozzi (thighs train), Tonelli.
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Adrien Silva, Damsgaard; Caputo, Quagliarella.
Ruled Out: Gabbiadini (ankle sprain), Verre, Ihattaren (conditioning).
VENEZIA-SPEZIA – Official
Venezia (4-3-3): Maenpaa; Mazzocchi, Caldara, Ceccaroni, Molinaro; Busio, Vacca, Crnigoj; Okereke, Henry, Johnsen.
Ruled Out: Fiordilino (shoulder sprain), Ala-Myllymaki (knee cartilage tear), Lezzerini (thigh injury), Haps (thigh injury), Sigurdsson (thigh injury), Ampadu (conditioning).
Spezia (3-4-3): Zoet; Amian, Erlic, Nikolaou; Ferrer; Maggiore, Sala, Bastoni; Verde, Antiste, Gyasi.
Ruled Out: Colley (thigh pull), Sena (failed physical), Agudelo (foot fracture), Reca (thigh strain).
LAZIO-CAGLIARI – Official
Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Caceres, Ceppitelli, Carboni; Nandez, Deiola, Marin, Lykogiannis, Dalbert; Joao Pedro, Keita.
Ruled Out: Rog (ACL tear), Ceter (thigh strain), Godin (sore patellar tendon), Strootman (bruised thigh)
VERONA-ROMA – Official
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Ceccherini; Faraoni, Barak, Ilic, Lazovic; Caprari, Bessa; Simeone.
Ruled Out: Veloso (thigh strain), Ruegg (calf soreness), Frabotta (Achilles tendon soreness), Sutalo (calf soreness).
Roma (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ibanez, Calafiori; Cristante, Veretout; Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Shomurodov; Abraham.
Ruled Out: Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear), Vina (knee injury).
JUVENTUS-MILAN
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Danilo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Bentancur, Locatelli, Rabiot; Dybala, Morata.
Potential changes: Bonucci/De Ligt, Cuadrado/Chiesa, Morata/Kean.
Probable: Chiesa (thigh soreness), Bernardeschi (bruised knee).
Ruled Out: Arthur (lower leg ossification), Kaio Jorge (thigh strain).
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Kessié, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Rebic.
Potential changes: Maignan/Tatarusanu, Florenzi/Romagnoli, Kjaer/Romagnoli.
Questionable: Maignan (hand injury).
Ruled Out: Bakayoko, Krunic (calf injury), Ibrahimovic (Achilles tendon soreness), Messias (conditioning), Giroud (back pain), Calabria (thigh pull).
UDINESE-NAPOLI
Udinese (3-5-1-1): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Arslan, Walace, Pereyra, Stryger Larsen; Deulofeu, Pussetto.
Potential changes: Deulofeu/Makengo, Stryger Larsen/Zeegelaar, Pussetto/Beto.
Questionable: Stryger Larsen, Success (stomach bug).
Ruled Out: Nestorovski (ACL tear), Udogie (hip strain).
Napoli (4-3-3): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Anguissa; Politano, Zielinski, Insigne; Osimhen.
Potential changes: Mario Rui/Juan Jesus, Zielinski/Elmas, Politano/Lozano.
Probable: Mario Rui (muscle fatigue), Meret (back transverse process fracture)
Ruled Out: Demme (MCL tear), Lobotka (thigh pull), Mertens (shoulder surgery), Ghoulam (ACL tear).