The Serie A Round 7 will reach its apex in Sunday’s night showdown between Atalanta and Milan. It will be the second big game in a row for the Bergamaschi after tying with Inter. Napoli will look to maintain the perfect record against the dangerous Fiorentina, which have won four out of six contests thus far, but lost in the two most difficult ones. The matchday will feature a Derby as well, as Torino will host the suddenly surging Juventus.
Inter will visit Sassuolo Saturday night. Lazio will tangle with the struggling Bologna, as the Felsinei bid farewell to director Walter Sabatini midweek and Sinisa Mihajlovic is hanging by a thread. Roma will look to shake off the Derby in a home game with Empoli, which are coming off two consecutive wins.
In the lower portion of the table, Cagliari and Salernitana will attempt to finally get their first wins of the season, respectively versus Venezia and Genoa. The Sardinians and the Lagunari will get things started Friday night. Sampdoria-Udinese and Verona-Spezia complete the list of matches. All four sides are seeking some consistency after up-and-down stretches.
From the injury standpoint, Atalanta got Luis Muriel back but lost Robin Gosens. Juventus will not have Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains on the mend. Ciro Immobile is out with a thigh strain. Joaquin Correa returned midweek for Inter. Gaetano Castrovilli has yet to be cleared by the doctors. Franck Ribery is expected to be available, while Torino and Spezia are dealing with several absences.
CAGLIARI-VENEZIA – Official
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Caceres, Godin, Carboni; Nandez, Deiola, Strootman, Marin, Lykogiannis; Joao Pedro, Keita.
Ruled Out: Ceppitelli (thigh pull), Dalbert (thigh strain), Rog (ACL tear), Ceter (thigh strain), Walukiewicz (thigh bruise), Farias (ankle sprain).
Venezia (4-3-3): Maenpaa; Ebuehi, Svoboda, Ceccaroni, Mazzocchi; Kiyine, Ampadu, Busio; Aramu, Okereke, Johnsen.
Probable: Caldara (illness), Vacca (calf contracture).
Ruled Out: Lezzerini, Sigurdsson, Haps (thigh injury), Ala-Myllymaki (knee cartilage tear)
SALERNITANA-GENOA – Official
Salernitana (4-3-1-2): Belec; Gyomber, Strandberg, Gagliolo, Ranieri; M.Coulibaly, L.Coulibaly, Kastanos; Ribery; Simy, Gondo.
Ruled Out: Ruggeri (thigh strain), Capezzi (knee injury), Aya (muscle fatigue).
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Bani, Maksimovic, Criscito; Sabelli, Touré, Rovella, Badelj, Cambiaso; Kallon, Bianchi.
Ruled Out: Destro (thigh injury), Biraschi (thigh strain), Cassata (knee surgery), Vanheusden (thigh strain), Caicedo (thigh pull).
TORINO-JUVENTUS – Official
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Zima, Bremer, Rodriguez; Singo, Lukic, Mandragora, Aina; Pobega, Brekalo; Sanabria.
Ruled Out: Pjaca (calf strain), Edera (ACL tear), Belotti (lower leg contusion), Praet (thigh pull), Zaza (knee sprain).
Suspensions: Djidji.
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Bernardeschi, Bentancur, Locatelli, Rabiot; Chiesa, Kean.
Ruled Out: Dybala (thigh pull), Morata (thigh strain).
SASSUOLO-INTER – Official
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Muldur, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Maxime Lopez, Frattesi; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; Defrel.
Ruled Out: Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Correa, Lautaro Martinez.
Ruled Out: Eriksen (heart issues), Sensi (knee sprain).
BOLOGNA-LAZIO – Official
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; De Silvestri, Dominguez, Svanberg, Hickey; Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Ruled Out: Dijks (fever), Kingsley (thigh strain).
Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Marusic, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Muriqi, Pedro.
Ruled Out: Immobile (thigh injury).
SAMPDORIA-UDINESE – Official
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Damsgaard; Caputo, Quagliarella.
Ruled Out: Gabbiadini (ankle sprain), Ihattaren (muscle fatigue), Verre, Vieira.
Udinese (3-5-1-1): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Stryger Larsen, Walace, Walace, Pereyra, Udogie; Beto, Pussetto.
Ruled Out: Nestorovski (ACL tear),Success (illness), Nehuen Perez (thigh strain).
VERONA-SPEZIA – Official
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Dawidowicz, Gunter, Casale; Faraoni, Bessa, Ilic, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Simeone.
Ruled Out: Frabotta (calf injury).
Spezia (4-2-3-1): Zoet; Amian, Hristov, Nikolaou, Bastoni; Ferrer, Verde; Podgoreanu, Antiste, Gyasi; Manaj.
Ruled Out: Maggiore (leg trauma), Reca (thigh strain), Agudelo (foot metatarsal fracture) Colley (thigh pull), Sena (failed physical), Kovalenko (leg injury), Sala (thigh strain), Erlic (thigh injury), Bourabia.
FIORENTINA-NAPOLI – Official
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Dragowski; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Callejon, Vlahovic, Gonzalez.
Ruled Out: Castrovilli (chest trauma).
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Anguissa; Lozano, Zielinski, Insigne; Osimhen.
Ruled Out: Lobotka (thigh pull).
ROMA-EMPOLI – Official
Roma (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Smalling, Vina; Darboe, Veretout; Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan; Abraham.
Ruled Out: Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear).
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Viti, Romagnoli, Marchizza; Haas, Ricci, Bandinelli; Henderson; Di Francesco, Pinamonti.
ATALANTA-MILAN
Atalanta (3-4-2-1): Musso; Toloi, Demiral, Djimsiti; Zappacosta, De Roon, Freuler, Maehle; Malinovskyi, Pessina; Zapata.
Potential changes: Toloi/Lovato, Demiral/Palomino, Malinovskyi/Ilicic.
Probable: Palomino, Toloi, Demiral (thigh injuries).
Ruled Out: Gosens (thigh strain), Hateboer (foot microfracture).
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez; Bennacer, Tonali; Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Rebic.
Potential changes: Romagnoli/Kjaer, Bennacer/Kessié, Brahim Diaz/Maldini.
Probable: Kjaer (thigh pull), Brahim Diaz (knee tendinitis), Messias (conditioning).
Questionable: Giroud (back pain).
Ruled Out: Ibrahimovic (Achilles tendon soreness), Florenzi (meniscus injury), Bakayoko (Achilles injury), Krunic (calf strain).