Serie A Round 5 – Preview and Expected Lineups – Zaniolo Resting?

The ink has not dried up yet on the fourth matchday, but it is already time for the Serie A Round 5, the first midweek one. There will be no head-to-head clashes between the title contenders this time However, Inter will visit the dangerous Fiorentina, which have won three in a row, in the most anticipated bout. A pretty challenging game awaits Napoli as they will face Sampdoria away, which recently stopped the Nerazzurri. Milan will have good chances to keep up the good form versus Venezia.

Juventus will look for their first Serie A win in Spezia. Two sneaky tough games on tap for Lazio and Roma after their weekend’s woes: the Biancocelesti will tangle with Torino away, while the Giallorossi will host Udinese. Atalanta will attempt to kick it into high gear versus Sassuolo, which have dropped two in a row. Bologna and Genoa will square off against each other to try bouncing back after rough losses. Verona and Cagliari could build some momentum following their new coach’s bump, respectively versus Sampdoria and Empoli.

Injuries continued piling up over the weekend. Gaetano Castrovilli is currently hospitalized after crashing into the post, but he is not dealing with anything serious. Joaquin Correa is out for a hip problem. Milan will likely continue to be undermanned given the short turnaround, as Simon Kjaer got hurt as well. Juventus are hoping for good news on Alvaro Morata, while Sampdoria could be thin in the midfield. Marten De Roon will make his Serie A seasonal debut after a four-game suspension.

BOLOGNA-GENOA – Official

Bologna (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; De Silvestri, Medel, Bonifazi, Hickey; Dominguez, Svanberg; Orsolini, Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.

Ruled Out: Kingsley (thigh strain), Schouten (muscle fatigue)

 

Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Vanheusden, Maksimovic, Criscito; Cambiaso, Rovella, Badelj, Touré, Fares; Destro, Kallon.

Ruled Out: Cassata (knee surgery), Biraschi, Buksa, Caicedo, Ekuban, Sturaro (muscle fatigue)

 

ATALANTA-SASSUOLO – Official

Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Toloi, Demiral, Djimsiti; Zappacosta, De Roon, Koopmeiners, Gosens; Malinovskyi, Pessina; Zapata.

Ruled Out: Muriel (thigh strain), Hateboer (foot microfracture).

 

Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Ayhan, Ferrari, Kyrikopoulos; Magnanelli, Frattesi; Berardi, Traoré, Boga, Defrel.

Ruled Out: Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).

 

FIORENTINA-INTER – Official

Fiorentina (4-3-3): Dragowski; Benassi, Milenkovic, Nastasic, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Sottil, Vlahovic, Gonzalez.

Ruled Out: Castrovilli (chest injury), Pulgar (muscle fatigue).

 

Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.

Ruled Out: Correa (hip injury), Vidal (muscle fatigue), Eriksen (heart issues), Sensi (knee sprain).

 

SALERNITANA-VERONA – Official

Salernitana (3-4-1-2): Belec; Gyomber, Strandberg, Gagliolo; Kechrida, M.Coulibaly, L.Coulibaly, Ranieri; Ribery; Simy, Gondo.

Ruled Out: Ruggeri (thigh strain), Capezzi (meniscus injury), Aya (muscle fatigue).

 

Verona (3-5-2): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Magnani, Faraoni, Bessa, Ilic, Hongla, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari, Simeone

Ruled Out: Frabotta (Achilles soreness), Ruegg, Sutalo (calf injury), Veloso (thigh strain).

 

SPEZIA-JUVENTUS – Official

Spezia (3-4-3): Zoet; Amian, Hristov, Nikolaou; Ferrer, Maggiore, Bourabia, Bastoni; Verde, Antiste, Gyasi.

Ruled Out: Reca (thigh strain), Agudelo (foot metatarsal fracture) Colley (thigh pull), Sena (failed physical), Erlic (thigh injury), Kovalenko.

 

Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; De Sciglio, De Ligt, Bonucci, Danilo; Chiesa, McKennie, Bentancur, Rabiot; Dybala, Kean.

Ruled Out: Arthur (lower leg ossification), Kaio Jorge (thigh strain), Chiellini (fever).

 

CAGLIARI-EMPOLI – Official

Cagliari (4-4-2): Cragno; Walukiewicz, Ceppitelli, Carboni, Lykogiannis; Nandez, Deiola, Marin, Dalbert; Joao Pedro, Keita.

Ruled Out: Rog (ACL tear), Ceter (thigh strain).

Suspensions: Zappa.

 

Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Viti, Romagnoli, Marchizza; Henderson, Ricci, Zurkowski; Haas; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.

Potential changes: Luperto/Romagnoli, Zurkowski/Henderson, Mancuso/Cutrone.

Ruled Out: Tonelli (knee sprain), Bandinelli (personal reasons), Fiamozzi (thigh strain).

 

MILAN-VENEZIA – Official

Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Kalulu, Gabbia, Romagnoli, Ballo Touré; Bennacer, Tonali; Florenzi, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Rebic.

Ruled Out: Giroud (back pain), Messias (conditioning), Kjaer (thigh injury), Calabria (thigh pull), Bakayoko (calf/Achilles injury), Krunic (calf strain), Ibrahimovic (Achilles tendon soreness).

 

Venezia (4-3-3): Lezzerini; Ebuehi, Caldara, Ceccaroni, Molinaro; Busio, Vacca, Peretz; Aramu, Forte, Johnsen.

Ruled Out: Lezzerini (thigh injury), Sigurdsson, Haps (thigh injury), Ala-Myllymaki (knee cartilage tear), Ampadu (conditioning), Fiordilino (shoulder sprain).

 

SAMPDORIA-NAPOLI – Official

Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Damsgaard; Caputo, Quagliarella.

Questionable: Thorsby (thigh injury), Adrien Silva (knee bruise), Ihattaren (conditioning), Verre.

Ruled Out: Gabbiadini (ankle sprain).

 

Napoli (4-3-3): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrhamani, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Anguissa, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Insigne.

Ruled Out: Mertens (shoulder injury), Ghoulam (ACL tear), Lobotka (thigh pull), Demme (MCL tear).

 

TORINO-LAZIO – Official

Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Pobega, Mandragora, Ansaldi; Linetty, Brekalo; Sanabria.

Ruled Out: Belotti (bruised fibula), Praet (thigh pull), Edera (ACL tear), Izzo (calf bruise), Zaza (knee sprain).

 

Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Marusic, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj; Akpa Akpro, Cataldi, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Moro.

Ruled Out: Zaccagni (hip pull).

 

ROMA-UDINESE – Official

Roma (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ibanez, Calafiori; Cristante, Veretout; Perez, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan; Abraham.

Ruled Out: Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear), Vina (knee sprain).

 

Udinese (3-5-1-1): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Pereyra, Walace, Makengo, Udogie; Deulofeu, Pussetto.

Ruled Out: Nestorovski (ACL tear), Success (stomach bug).