Round 17 matchups! Here we go!
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FIORENTINA – SASSUOLO Fiorentina resumed post WC break action with a home draw against Monza. A slight letdown perhaps but a fair result. Amrabat, who played a huge part in the World Cup for Morocco, came on late and might take a minute to get back into form. Sassuolo on the other hand laid an egg at home 2-1 against Sampdoria. More on Samp later. Sassuolo continue to struggle to score. Even a Berardi PK couldn’t light enough of a fire under them to make a comeback. Fun fact, the last 18 games between these 2 opponents have resulted in 6 wins, 6 losses and 6 draws for each. Prediction: Fiorentina WIN
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JUVENTUS – UDINESE Juve picked up right where they left off. Another ugly, Allegri-esque 1-0 win on the road to Cremonese. That makes 7 straight wins with 16 goals scored and ZERO against. ZERO. Say what you want about Allegri but the man knows what he’s doing. Also Milik scored again giving him 5 goals for the season and making him one of the best signings of last summer. Look for them to redeem that loan ASAP. Juve also have a lot of injured players we should see any day now including the likes of Bonucci, Cuadrado, De Sciglio and Di Maria. Chiesa did make his return but didn’t do much. Udinese are headed in the complete opposite direction having gone 8 games without a win now. They were again without Deulofeu against Empoli. He really is the straw that stirs the drink for them. Without him it’s very route one. My guess is a trip to Turin is not the tonic they need. Juve WIN
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MONZA – INTER Monza continued their midseason renaissance with a draw away to Fiorentina. Results like this against mid table teams will go a long way towards keeping them up. Colpani remains fun to watch and Caprari helps to set the table. Inter came off the break with a much needed win at home to Napoli where they were totally dominant. Inter were content to sit and counter and played it perfectly. The Lukaku-Dzeko combo was interestingly very effective. The corpse of Acerbi was somehow very effective as well. Barella continues to look reborn after a sluggish campaign last year. The Milan bias in me sees a letdown for Inter and a road draw but my brain says Inter WIN
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SALERNITANA – TORINO A battle of midtable teams that had disappointing restarts to their campaigns on Wednesday. Salernitana slept through the first 45 against Milan and if not for Ochoa playing out of his mind would have been down 5-0. They did finally wake up a bit after Bonazzoli came on and scored but could get no closer. That back line is a mess. Torino also slept through their first half return game but were fortunate to play lowly Verona and only be down 1-0 at the half. A chance Milinkovis-Savic would love to have back. Miranchuk would equalize but Torino couldn’t get another. A chance for both teams to stake their claim in the midtable, I think Torino finds some goals and piles on Salernitana. Torino WIN
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LAZIO – EMPOLIÂ Empoli is my underdog pick of the year but other than that it’s hard to explain them beating Lazio. The Lazio defense has been air tight and they had still been able to score goals while immobile was out before the break. So immobile comes back and of course they become dependent on him once again while the defense creaks. This is EXACTLY why I don’t gamble folks. Maybe a blip or a sign of a slide. We will see. This begins a tough stretch for Empoli as they face 6 top end teams over their next 9 games. Vicario was busy once again as Udinese launched 21 shots but the backend held for an important point at home. Everything has to go through or around Caputo but how much can you really expect from the 35 year old. Lazio WINS
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SPEZIA – LECCE I’m always a fan of the underdog, recently promoted teams and these are two of my favorites from recent years. Should be a fun one. Both had nice return games after the WC break as Spezia held Udinese to a draw at home and Lecce surprised Lazio with a 2-1 defeat. For Spezia Zoet did a nice job filling in for Dragowski who will be sorely missed. Udinese launched a lot of shots but created very little as Spezia kept them at a distance. For Lecce it was a surprisingly potent attack that had Lazio on the run a fair bit. Also of course my man crush Falcone had another solid start in goal. A win against a full strength Lazio is not to be discounted. Lecce WINS
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SAMPDORIA – NAPOLI The Stankovic era continues to show promise as Sampdoria started the second half with a win away to Sassuolo. That’s 7 points in 8 games now after just 2 points from 8 to start the season. It’s not great but it’s certainly better. The Nuytinck addition in the back should help the back end but the offense is still struggling mightily. More moves coming I’m sure. Napoli on the other hand came out after the break with a bit of a clunker. Sure away to Inter is a tough game and the loss hurts, but it’s the performance that was the real stinker. Inter let them have all of the ball and Napoli did nothing with it. As mentioned above the corpse of Acerbi shut down Osimhem, the leagues leading scorer. Oof. This however represents the perfect bounce back opportunity. Drop points though and the ghosts of failed calcio campaigns past start to awaken. Napoli WINS
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MILAN – ROMA Milan started the second half with a bang. Two goals in 15 minutes. Then spent the rest of the blowing chance after chance as we made memo Ochoa look like the Mexican Buffon. Fun but also nerve wracking. Roma also started off well with a 6th minute PK from Pellegrini. After that they sputtered to a 1-0 win. I didn’t watch the game but if Roma twitter is to be believed it wasn’t pretty. With all the firepower it seems like it’s just a matter of time til it all clicks, right? RIGHT? The back end remains a work in progress. Roma can’t score and Milan can’t keep a clean sheet. Something has to give, right? DRAW
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VERONA – CREMONESE No one needed a result more to start the second half than Verona. Maybe Cremonese? LOL. Verona managed to snatch a point away to Torino. Not an easy place to get a result. Verona have some interesting pieces, especially the Scottish Winger Doig, but they are running out of time to get things together, already 8 points behind the drop. If anything catch some of this game to watch Carnesecchi, the keeper for Cremonese. He is gonna make them some good money and start at a big club some day. If not for some terrible set piece defending he gets the clean sheet against Juve. The definition of a relegation 6 pointer here. I don’t think either of these teams have much hope but a win here at least gives someone the right to dream a little. DRAW
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BOLOGNA – ATALANTA: SERIE A FACT OF THE DAY Over the last 2 seasons Atalanta have gained 56 points from 27 AWAY games, a rate of 2.1 PPG During that same period they have gained 31 points from 27 HOME games, a rate of 1.1 PPG. A bizarre number for a club that’s been quite successful the last few years. Also coincidentally mirrors most of Gasperini’s tenure. You’d think that place would be a fortress by now. Otherwise for them the slide continues after a solid start. A late Pasilic goal saving a draw on Wednesday at Spezia, breaking a 3 game losing streak in the league. Meanwhile Bologna are unbeaten in 6 at home. They are solidly midtable and continue to develop young players. Lewis Ferguson, a young Scottish DM, is next on that list. As is Stefan Posch, a CB on loan from Hoffenheim. This could be a wildly interesting affair with a lot of goals. I’ll say 3-2 Atalanta WINS.
Some really good matchups at the top, middle and bottom of the table. Midweek next week we get the return of Coppa Italia action. Buckle up folks. The matches are coming think and fast.
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FORZA MILAN!
Lisi