Round 19 Matchups! Halfway mark! On we go!
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HELLAS V LECCE Hellas have 4 points in 3 since the break. Last week was their first loss in that run but it was away to Inter. Nothing terrible. Still they remain 7 points behind 17th place Sassuolo. To make any sort of real headway will require an honest to goodness winning streak. Lecce are now unbeaten in 6 and have not lost in their last 3 road games. They sit in 14th on a solid 20 points. Falcone continues to hold down the back while Hjulmand HJULDS the center. Get it? Hjulds? Hahahahaha. Odds of them staying up gets better with every performance. My guess is Lecce goes in there and is able to secure a point. DRAW
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SALERNITANA V NAPOLI Salernitana just gave up 8 to Atalanta. EIGHT! Yet somehow Ochoa is still being seen as a savior in the back? I’m finding that harder and harder to believe. They also fired their coach this week and rehired him 48 hours later. Is this their way of playing 3D chess by firing their coach but then also bringing in the guy who saved them last year, who just happens to be the same guy? Only in Italy! Will Napoli score 8? Probably not. I could see 4-5 though. They rested and rotated most of their squad midweek and will be ready to go. NAPOLI WINS
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FIORENTINA V TORINO A very tasty midtable tie. Both are on 23 points and tied for tenth. Fiorentina need to make some headway here before Conference League begins again in 3 weeks. A couple wins during that period would be massive for them being stable in the league while hoping for European advancement. It’s certainly tight though. Home games against Torino and Bologna will be decisive. Torino gained headlines with the Coppa win against Milan but their league form is poor. 2 points in 3 since the break. A raft of injuries. Milinkovic Savic is playing superman between the sticks. These 2 meet again in 2 weeks in the Coppa. really wanna go with the Fiorentina win but smells like a DRAW
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SAMPDORIA V UDINESE Despite the best efforts of new skipper Stankovic, Sampdoria are still limping badly. They are 7 points from survival but it feels like 70. They have still only scored 8 goals all year while conceding 31. Easily the worst goal difference in the league at -23. Only 3 points from their last 5 and that thanks to crashing Sassuolo. Fortunately for them Udinese has been just as rotten of late. After a 6 game win streak through October 3rd they haven’t won in their last 10. Mix in that their most important playmaker, old friend Gerard Deulofeu, has been ‘injured’ (READ: HOPING AND PRAYING FOR A TRANSFER TO ASTON VILLA) since the WC break things are going down fast. That being said they are otherwise healthy and have everyone else available. It’ll be ugly, but I’ll say UDINESE WINS
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MONZA V SASSUOLO Monza is gonna Monza folks! Can you smell what Uncle Fester is cooking? Ever since the managerial switch to Palladino they have been on a roll. Can’t keep a clean sheet but is still finding a way to get results. Sound familiar? Caprari is set to miss the match which will hurt. Sassuolo meanwhile haven’t won in 6 matches which has seen them tumble down the table to 17th. There’s a sizable gap to 18th but they need results and need them soon. It will not help that they will be without Pinamonti up top. and Consigli in goal. Dionisi’s could very well see the axe soon. Exactly the kind of game Berardi is there for. I know it makes no sense at all but I will say SASSUOLO WINS 3-2. Bet the over for the goals. might be your fun/bad game of the week.Â
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SPEZIA V ROMA Spezia comes home following a beating in the Coppa, 5-2 at the hands of Atalanta. A tricky one as they are not great at home and Roma is 3rd best in the league away from home. Hurts Nikolau, a starting CB, will miss this game via red card suspension. Roma may have finally found their scoring boots. They have 6 goals in 3 matches since the break and have yet to lose. Also Dybala is finding his form. You know I love me some Spezia but I’m gonna go for Roma getting a much needed road win to stay in the battle for top 4. Dragowski will have a great showing but ROMA WINS
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JUVENTUS V ATALANTA Game of the week here! Juve are unbeaten at home, conceding only 3 games al year. Atalanta have the second best road record in the league averaging nearly 2 goals a game. Allegri and company are coming home licking their wounds after getting spanked at Napoli. Atalanta have the most goals in ALL OF EUROPE with 17 since the break. Juve is watching Chiesa come into form while Pogba is back in training. Really hurts Atalanta will be with Koopmeiners in this game. Even at their highest Atalanta always had terrible luck away to Juve. Mad Max rights the ship and a Chiesa winner clinches it. JUVE WINS
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BOLOGNA V CREMONESE Oof. Double oof. Can I just skip this one? Boss says no. Ugh. Despite a bunch of injuries Bologna should still have enough. Even without Arnautovic they have plenty to make things happen. Cremonese got a gift getting a rain soaked PK win over Napoli in the Coppa. Their first and possibly only win of the season. BOLOGNA WINS
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INTER V EMPOLI This game always seems to be exciting and have goals. The last 4 matchups have featured 16 goals. Inter are on a nice run after beating Napoli and Verona in the league and waxing Milan in the SuperCoppa. Onana is settling into goal and the strike partnership of Lautaro and Dzeko is on fire. Empoli is on a nice run but will be without Marin who’s serving a suspension. watch Vicario in goal for Empoli. He’s probably gonna concede a few but he’s gonna make some stellar saves along the way. I’ll say this ends something like 3-1 INTER WINS
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LAZIO V MILAN We all know Milan are listing badly of late. These poor runs happen and the only way to get out of them is to keep going. Having a nice little 5 day break has been nice. Everyone should be on deck. Tonali returns from his yellow card suspension. Lazio are coming off 2 wins but will be without Immobile. He’s usually the difference whenever Lazio get a result in this fixture. Thie will be the first time Romagnoli faces Milan since captaining us to the Scudetto last year. Milan have won the last 3 in this series by a cumulative score of 8-1. Milan games have become fun/bad of late and I think Lazio will be a willing participant. There’s no way I would wager on this game, but I’ll say MILAN WINS 3-2
The huge matchup is Juventus and Lazio but Milan and Lazio isn’t far behind. Torino and Fiorentina might be a bloodbath. This represents the midway point of the league schedule so there is a lot more of the season to go than normal. The league table looks to be settling out but there are still gains to be made.
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FORZA MILAN!
Lisi
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