The Round 9 of Serie A will get an early start, with two Friday games, ahead of another midweek matchday. Torino will host Genoa, as both sides need to bounce back after negative stretches, although the Granata had some tough matches on the schedule. Sampdoria and Spezia will square off in the second one, which is even more crucial in the relegation struggle due to the Blucerchiati’s slide.
The Round will reach its climax on Sunday, with Roma hosting the league-leading Napoli, which are eyeing the best start in their history, and with another chapter of the heated rivalry between Inter and Juventus. The banged-up Milan will seek a positive result against the in-form Bologna, while the similarly depleted will host Udinese.
Lazio will visit the plucky Verona trying to find some consistency after up-and-down results. Fiorentina-Cagliari complete the Sunday slate. The Viola have dropped three of the last four fixtures, while Cagliari just got their first game of the season. On Saturday, instead, vital points will be up for grabs in Salernitana-Empoli, in the first game with Stefano Colantuono at the helm of La Bersagliera. Sassuolo will face the suddenly surging Venezia, which collected points in their past three games.
On the injury front, Torino’s Rolando Mandragora will miss a month due a meniscus tear. Ante Rebic is the only Milan absentee with a chance to return. Fiorentina’s Erick Pulgar suffered a severe ankle sprain. Venezia will not have Dennis Johnsen for three weeks due to an ankle problem, but they were fearing severe injury. Dalbert sprained his knee. Lazio will be without their two defensive linchpins Francesco Acerbi and Luiz Felipe due to suspensions. Roberto Pereyra was sent off in the last tilt.
TORINO-GENOA – Official
Torino (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Djidji, Bremer, Buongiorno; Singo, Pobega, Lukic, Ansaldi; Linetty, Brekalo; Belotti.
Probable: Praet (thigh strain), Singo (muscle fatigue).
Ruled Out: Mandragora (meniscus injury), Pjaca (calf strain), Verdi (thigh strain), Edera (ACL tear).
Genoa (3-5-2): Sirigu; Ghiglione, Vasquez, Criscito, Fares; Rovella, Touré; Ekuban, Sturaro, Fares; Destro.
Ruled Out: Maksimovic (thigh strain), Hernani (thigh strain), Bani (thigh injury), Vanheusden (thigh strain), Cassata (knee surgery).
SAMPDORIA-SPEZIA – Official
Sampdoria (4-4-2): Audero; Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley, Augello; Candreva, Adrien Silva, Askildsen, Verre; Caputo, Gabbiadini.
Potential changes: Verre/Depaoli, Quagliarella/Gabbiadini.
Ruled Out: Damsgaard (thigh strain), Ihattaren (personal), Vieira (thigh strain), Ekdal (thigh injury).
Suspensions: Thorsby.
Spezia (4-2-3-1): Provedel; Ferrer, Nikolaou, Hristov, Bastoni; Maggiore, Kovalenko; Gyasi, Salcedo, Strelec; Antiste.
Ruled Out: Erlic (thigh injury), Amian (thigh injury), Agudelo (foot metatarsal fracture), Sala (calf strain), Bourabia (calf strain), Colley (thigh pull), Kiwior (ankle sprain), Reca (COVID), Nguiamba (muscle fatigue), Sena (failed physical), Manaj.
SALERNITANA-EMPOLI – Official
Salernitana (3-4-1-2): Belec; Aya, Strandberg, Jarosyznksi; Kechrida, Obi, Di Tacchio, Ranieri; Ribery; Simy, Gondo.
Ruled Out: M.Coulibaly (thigh injury), Gyomber (muscle fatigue), L.Coulibaly (thigh strain), Ruggeri (thigh strain), Capezzi (knee injury), Bogdan (calf strain), Veseli (COVID).
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Vicario; Stojanovic, Ismajli, Luperto, Marchizza; Haas, Ricci, Bandinelli; Henderson; Cutrone, Pinamonti.
Ruled Out: Romagnoli (thigh strain), Furlan (thigh strain).
SASSUOLO-VENEZIA – Official
Sassuolo (4-2-3-1): Consigli; Toljan, Chiriches, Ferrari, Rogerio; Maxime Lopez, Frattesi; Berardi, Raspadori, Djuricic; Scamacca.
Ruled Out: Boga (illness), Obiang (pneumonia), Romagna (patellar tendon tear), Schiappacasse (ACL tear).
Venezia (4-3-1-2): Romero; Ebuehi, Svoboda, Ceccaroni, Haps; Crnigoj, Ampadu, Busio; Kiyine; Okereke, Henry.
Ruled Out: Johnsen (ankle injury), Vacca (thigh strain), Fiordilino (sports hernia), Lezzerini (disc injury), Ala-Myllymaki (knee cartilage tear), Heymans (personal), Vacca (thigh strain), Aramu (flu).
BOLOGNA-MILAN – Official
Bologna (3-4-2-1): Skorupski; Soumaoro, Medel, Theate; De Silvestri, Dominguez, Svanberg, Hickey; Soriano, Barrow; Arnautovic.
Ruled Out: Bonifazi (calf strain), Kingsley (fibula fracture), Viola.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Ballo-Touré; Bennacer, Tonali; Castillejo, Krunic, Leao; Ibrahimovic.
Ruled Out: Rebic (ankle sprain), Kessié (flu), Hernandez, Brahim Diaz (COVID), Maignan (wrist injury), Messias (thigh strain), Florenzi (meniscus injury), Pellegri.
ATALANTA-UDINESE
Atalanta (4-2-3-1): Musso; Zappacosta, Lovato, Palomino, Maehle; De Roon, Freuler; Malinovskyi, Pasalic, Muriel; Zapata.
Potential changes: Lovato/Demiral, Maehle/Pezzella, Muriel/Koopmeiners.
Questionable: Demiral (thigh injury).
Ruled Out: Gosens (thigh strain), Djimsiti (arm fracture), Pessina (thigh strain), Hateboer (foot microfracture), Toloi (thigh pull).
Udinese (3-5-1-1): Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Samir; Molina, Samardzic, Walace, Makengo, Stryger Larsen; Pussetto, Beto.
Potential changes: Molina/Udogie, Samardzic/Arslan, Pussetto/Forestieri.
Probable: Success (thigh injury), Nestorovski (ACL tear).
Ruled Out: Nehuen Perez (thigh strain), Deulofeu (ankle sprain).
Suspensions: Pereyra.
FIORENTINA-CAGLIARI
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Callejon, Vlahovic, Gonzalez.
Potential changes: Odriozola/Venuti, Martinez Quarta/Nastasic, Torreira/Amrabat.
Probable: Castrovilli (chest injury).
Ruled Out: Dragowski (thigh strain), Pulgar (ankle sprain), Kokorin (muscle fatigue).
Suspensions: Sottil.
Cagliari (3-5-2): Cragno; Caceres, Ceppitelli, Carboni; Nandez, Marin, Strootman, Deiola, Lykogiannis; Joao Pedro, Keita.
Potential changes: Keita/Pavoletti, Deiola/Zappa.
Ruled Out: Dalbert (knee sprain), Rog (ACL tear), Ceter (thigh strain), Walukiewicz (thigh bruise), Godin (knee soreness).
VERONA-LAZIO
Verona (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Magnani, Gunter, Casale; Faraoni, Ilic, Veloso, Lazovic; Barak, Caprari; Kalinic.
Potential changes: Casale/Dawidowicz, Ilic/Tameze, Kalinic/Simeone.
Questionable: Dawidowicz (muscle fatigue).
Ruled Out: Frabotta (calf injury).
Lazio (4-3-3): Reina; Lazzari, Patric, Radu, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Basic; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro.
Potential changes: Lazzari/Marusic, Basic/Luis Alberto.
Ruled Out: Adekanye (meniscus injury), Zaccagni (knee sprain).
Suspensions: Luiz Felipe, Acerbi.
ROMA-NAPOLI
Roma (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ibanez, Vina; Cristante, Veretout; Zaniolo, Pellegrini, Mkhitaryan; Abraham.
Potential changes: Karsdrop/Reynolds, Zaniolo/Carles Perez.
Probable: Zaniolo (knee sprain).
Ruled Out: Spinazzola (Achilles tendon tear), Smalling (thigh strain).
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Fabian Ruiz, Anguissa; Politano, Elmas, Insigne; Osimhen.
Potential changes: Politano/Lozano, Elmas/Zielinski.
Probable: Zielinski (thigh injury).
Ruled Out: Ounas (thigh strain), Manolas (thigh strain), Malcuit (calf strain).
INTER-JUVENTUS
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Brozovic, Calhanoglu, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez.
Potential changes: Darmian/Dumfries, Calhanoglu/Vidal, Bastoni/Dimarco.
Probable: Calhanoglu (ankle sprain).
Ruled Out: Eriksen (heart issues), Correa (thigh injury).
Juventus (4-4-2): Szczesny; Danilo, De Ligt, Chiellini, Alex Sandro; Cuadrado, Bentancur, Locatelli, Bernardeschi; Chiesa, Morata.
Potential changes: De Ligt/Bonucci, Alex Sandro/De Sciglio, Chiesa/Kulusevski.
Probable: Dybala (thigh injury).
Ruled Out: Kean (muscle fatigue), Rabiot (COVID).