The race for the Scudetto resumes in a few hours from now and it’s time to find out which players will be able to play and which might not play in this weekend’s Round 7 in the Italian top-flight.
Never an easy choice for managers when it comes to deciding the starting line up but at least they do get to enjoy the sense of power that can be taken away from them in a moment’s notice. So today, we worked really hard and scoured the net for the most possible starting XIs for all 20 Serie A teams.
So, let’s dive right in!
Atalanta
Now this is the team that everyone wants to do well. Gian Piero Gasperini’s men are swashbucklers for sure but were humiliated by Liverpool in the Champions League. They have a great attacking lineup but Inter could prove to be a difficult opponent for sure.
La Dea haven’t been totally convincing this season which might be sensed by Antonio Conte already.
Probable starting XI (3-4-2-1): Sportiello; Toloi, Romero, Djimsiti; Hateboer, Pasalic, Freuler, Ruggeri; Ilicic, Gomez; Zapata
Unavailable: Caldara, De Roon, Gosens, Piccini
Benevento
The newly-promoted side are in for an early relegation dogfight and play host to Spezia. Gianluca Caprari is suspended for this game and we might be in for a goal fest given how desperate both sides are for a win.
Probable starting XI (4-3-2-1): Montipò; Maggio, Glik, Caldirola, Letizia; Hetemaj, Schiattarella, Dabo; Iago Falque, Sau; Lapadula
Unavailable: Caprari, Tuia
Bologna
Two wins and four defeats means that Sinisa Mihajlovic’s lads don’t go half assed. Its either a win or a defeat; no grey areas. However, the game against Napoli could be a rude awakening for a side that is definitely in with a chance to play its role in a relegation dogfight.
Probable starting XI (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Denswil, Tomiyasu, Danilo, Silvestri; Schouten, Svanberg; Barrow, Soriano, Orsolini; Palacio
Unavailable: Dijks, Medel, Poli, Skov Olsen, Santander, Sansone, Mbaye
Cagliari
Cagliari really need to get back to winning ways before they find themselves in the same situation that Torino and Udinese are in. Before their thrilling 3-2 defeat at the hands of Bologna, Cagliari had started the campaign brightly enough.
Probable starting XI (4-2-3-1): Cragno; Zappa, Walukiewicz, Godin, Lykogiannis; Marin, Rog; Ounas, Joao Pedro, Nandez; Simeone
Unavailable: Ciocci, Pinna, Luvumbo
Crotone
Sitting uncomfortably in 20th place, Crotone are not in for a treat when they take on a Turin side trying to be a better reflection of themselves. Giovanni Stroppa is in a tricky place and Gianni Vrenna would definitely be breathing down his neck and sending all sorts of wrong chills down his spines.
Let’s just get to their probable starting XI since Crotone do look like a team that is in the Serie A this season to fill a spot.
Probable starting XI (3-5-2): Cordaz; Luperto, Marrone, Magallan; Pereira, Benali, Cigarini, Vulic, Reca; Messias, Simy
Unavailable: Riviere, Dragus, Molina
Fiorentina
As they are expected to suffer another defeat at the hands of Parma, more focus on the deadman walking Beppe Iachini — The Undertaker entrance theme starts — who has been looking over his shoulder even when sleeping. La Viola’s form has been terrible and whoever thought that an ageing Franck Ribery could revive the team’s ailing fortunes, needs to be given a reality check.
Breaking news for Fiorentina is the absence of José Callejon who just tested positive for coronavirus.
Probable starting XI (3-5-2): Dragowski; Igor; Milenkovic, Caceres, Lirola, Bonaventura, Amrabat, Castrovilli, Biraghi; Kouamé, Ribery
Unavailable: Pezzella, Callejon
Genoa
Genoa have not won against Roma in the Serie A since 2014 and while they do host the capital club, things aren’t looking to good. They have lost their last three Serie A games against both Roma and Lazio.
They did beat Fiorentina 2-0 last week but it doesn’t count for much these days does it?
Probable starting XI (4-3-2-1): Perin; Criscito, Zapata, Goldaniga, Biraschi; Rovella, Badelj, Behrami; Parigini, Pandev; Scamacca
Unavailable: Sturaro, Zappacosta, Shomurodov, Cassata
Inter
The Nerazzurri lost to Real Madrid in a game that could have gone their way. Romelu Lukaku has been out of action in recent games so in his absence, Lautaro Martinez will continue to lead the line alongside Alexis Sanchez.
Antonio Conte’s team haven’t started the campaign brightly enough but could look to pile up further misery on Atalanta who are expected to challenge for top honors these days.
Probable starting XI (3-4-1-2): Handanovic; De Vrij, Bastoni, Skriniar; Hakimi, Vidal, Brozovic, Young; Barella; Sanchez, Lautaro Martinez
Unavailable: Vecino, Sensi, Lukaku
Juventus
Andrea Pirlo’s side have been unconvincing in the league so far and most of Italian non-Juve supporters are aching for a new champion. Could this be the season?
The game against Lazio is going to be a difficult one but with Ronaldo back, there’s always a chance of Juve making a mockery of Scudetto pretenders.
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Szczesny; Cuadrado, Demiral, Chiellini, Danilo; McKennie, Rabiot, Bentancur, Kulusevski; Cristiano Ronaldo, Morata
Unavailable: De Ligt, Alex Sandro, Ramsey
Lazio
Well, we all thought that the Aquile would mount a sustained bid for the Scudetto. However, they’ve been a little too inconsistent for our liking. They do seem to have discovered a newfound affinity for conceding goals which means that Morata and Ronaldo would be licking their lips.
Lazio still have a number of players unlikely to be ready for this game, including top scorer Ciro Immobile.
Probable starting XI (3-5-2): Reina; Patric, Hoedt, Acerbi; Fares, Luis Alberto, Parolo, Milinkovic Savic, Marusic; Correa, Caicedo
Unavailable: Immobile, Lucas Leiva, Strakosha, Lulic, Radu, Luis Alberto, Lazzari, D. Anderson, Escalante
Milan
Well well well……who thought that Milan would concede three goals at home against Lille? Yes, Les Dogues are a good side but you cannot expect a Stefano Pioli-managed team to fold that easily. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not have a good game and Lille striker Yusuf Yazici would be eager to bump into Hakan Calhanoglou when the Turkish squad reports for the upcoming international break.
However, the game against Verona would give us a great idea about the sort of Milan team we are looking at. Are they going to win and prove that the Europa League disappointment was just a blip or are they going to dither and as a consequence, ruin a great start to the season?
Probable starting XI (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Diogo Dalot, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Hernandez; Kessié, Bennacer; Rafael Leao, Calhanoglu, Saelemaekers; Ibrahimovic
Unavailable: Musacchio, Castillejo, Calabria
Napoli
Gennaro Gattuso would be seething at how easily his team folded last week. The game against Bologna would be a perfect opportunity to return to winning ways. Victor Osimhen hasn’t scored freely enough so the Nigerian might be looking at this game as an opportunity to shine up his shooting boots.
Probable starting XI (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Hysaj; Fabian Ruiz, Bakayoko; Mertens, Insigne, Lozano; Osimhen
Parma
Parma are slowly getting back in form but they will have to take on troubled Fiorentina without Andreas Cornelius but Roberto Inglese is set to return to action. Bruno Alves and Yordan Osorio are back from self-isolation.
Probable starting XI (4-3-1-2): Sepe; Grassi, Iacoponi, Gagliolo, Pezzella; Kurtic, Hernani, Cyprien; Kucka; Gervinho, Inglese
Unavailable: Cornelius, Busi, Mihaila, Laurini
Roma
Okay, so we do think that Roma are a good side but if you feel that this team would be in for a title shot, that is something that will eventually happen….but not right now. They did well in Europe this week and will be looking to bring their A game against Genoa.
Edin Dzeko is expected to lead the line but Borja Mayoral would be looking to come from the bench and make an impact.
Probable starting XI (3-4-2-1): Mirante; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Spinazzola, Veretout, Pellegrini, Bruno Peres; Pedro, Mkhitaryan; Dzeko
Unavailable: Zaniolo, Pastore, Calafiori, Santon, Diawara
Sampdoria
Doria have not won away to Cagliari since November 2007 so do we see any sliver lining here? Not really! They are in 10th place in the league standings which isn’t a bad achievement but Cagliari could prove to be too strong for them. And if Giovanni Simeone has his shooting boots on, you can expect Doria to defend and then some more.
Possible starting XI (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Tonelli, Augello; Candreva, Thorsby, Ekdal, Jankto; Ramirez, Quagliarella
Unavailable: Gabbiadini, Keita
Sassuolo
The Neroverdi are still unbeaten in the league and following a surprise 2-0 win over Napoli, would be eager to add another win to their record when they host Udinese, a team that is already flirting with relegation.
Domenico Berardi missed the 2-0 win over Gattuso’s men alongside Francesco Caputo but both men are expected to return.
Probable starting XI (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Muldur, Ayhan, Ferrari, Rogerio; M. Lopez, Locatelli; Berardi, Traore, Boga; Caputo
Unavailable: Romagna, Schiappacasse, Chiriches, Toljan, Haraslin, Djuricic, Magnanelli
Spezia
Facing Benvento on Saturday, Spezia will be looking to at least grab a point in an early relegation scrap. The game is definitely promising a few goals (running out of words here eh?) but it is just too difficult to call it in their favour since they have a raft of injuries to deal with.
Probable starting XI (4-3-3): Provedel; Ferrer, Terzi, Chabot, Bastoni; Deiola, Ricci, Pobega; Agudelo, Nzola, Farias
Unavailable: Mattiello, Acampora, Bartolomei, Mastinu, Zoet, Ramos, Sala, Galabinov, Verde
Torino
It would be a sad day indeed if Torino ended up going to Serie B. However, they haven’t really done well this season now have they?
With only four points from six games, Marco Giampaolo is in the same situation as Fiorentina’s Giuseppe Iachini.
Thankfully though, they’re playing Crotone on Sunday so if they cannot get three points against the rock bottom minnows thenthe situation will get much worse for their coach.
Probable starting XI (4-3-1-2): Sirigu; Vojvoda, Bremer, Lyanco, Rodriguez; Linetty, Rincon, Meite; Lukic; Belotti, Bonazzoli
Unavailable: Baselli, Izzo
Udinese
The Little Zebras are not in a good place. Their form is patchy at best and with just one win so far this season, the game against Sassuolo comes at a very bad time. Do we think that they can spring a surprise? Well….stranger things have happened but Sassuolo losing the game looks like an unlikely event.
Probable starting XI (4-3-3): Musso; Stryger-Larsen, Becao, De Maio, Samir; De Paul, Arslan, Pereyra; Pussetto, Okaka, Deulofeu
Unavailable: Jajalo, Prodl, Coulibaly, Wallace
Verona
Verona are flying high enough to cause Milan a lot of problems on Sunday. They are in seventh place in the league standings and if they manage to stay fairly consistent, they have a European dream to dream.
Ivan Juric’s side is defensively very composed and the Mastini would be looking to neutralize Zlatan. Can they do that? Depends on how angry the big Swede is!
Probable starting XI (3-4-2-1): Silvestri; Ceccherini, Lovato, Empereur; Dimarco, Ilic, Tameze, Lazovic; Barak, Zaccagni; Kalinic
Unavailable: Gunter, Ruegg, Faraoni, Danzi, Veloso, Vieira, Benassi, Favilli
