Round 20 Matchups!
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BOLOGNA V SPEZIA Bologna were pretty lackluster against Cremonese. A dull start led to going down 1-0, rallying to 1-1 but not being able to finish the job. they are still without several regulars including Arnautovic. Thy have more than enough talent to get on the board though, especially at home where they’ve only been held scoreless once all year. Spezia are sputtering since the news of selling young CB Kiwior to Arsenal. New starter? old friend Mattia Caldara. It will be tough for the moment but that means more long term investment for one the youngest teams in the league. BOLOGNA WINS in my lock of the week.
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LECCE V SALERNITANA Y’all know I love me some Lecce. I steered you wrong last week and I apologize. No excuses to lose at home to bottom feeders Hellas. I suppose they were due a clunker after a nice run? This is the first time all year they have given up more than one goal in back to back games. Not a good sign. Salernitana remain a train wreck and will see this game as a chance to right the ship. They are leaking goals like crazy. I suppose ‘holding’ Napoli to only 2 will be seen as a silver lining though. Nicola will keep rearranging pieces til they find something. Could be goals here but also could be a game where both just wanna sit and find themselves a clean sheet. DRAW
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EMPOLI V TORINO Empoli are the second most in form team in the league with 11 points over their last 5. Last year around this same time they had a good run of form to solidify their spot in the table before making some January sales and sputtering their way to finishing a respectable 14th. It’s a little too soon for that but 25 points at the halfway mark has them sitting pretty. They are however with Henderson and Parisi for this game. that’s a problem. Torino are struggling to score but are finding a way to still get points. They have only 3 goals in 4 games since the break but have 2 wins and a draw in there. Juric may do it in an ugly fashion but his charges usually find a way. Interestingly Torino has not beaten Empolis over the last 2 campaigns and have conceded in every game. I’ll say Score DRAW
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CREMONESE V INTER
WARNING: IRRATIONAL PICK INCOMING
Cremonese have ridden the new manager bounce to a win over Napoli and a draw away to Bologna. Not earth shattering results but something is better than nothing. GO WITH ME HERE. Inter are coming off laying a giant egg at home to Empoli. Onana giving up the winner as he let the ball slip beneath him. A Tatarusanu-esque blunder. They also come into this game without Skriniar or Barella. As a degenerate gambler I JUST SPOKE to said “either Cremonese wins or Inter wins 4-0”. Who could possibly turn down that kind of advice?
CREMONESE WINS!!!!!
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ATALANTA V SAMPDORIA Ok. Back to reality. Atalanta are on a roll. A certified, fresh baked kaiser. They are scoring like crazy. Lookman LOOKS like the real deal with 11 goals over the first half. They’ve even managed to turn around their home form and win a few games. A win away to Juve would have really capped off their current run but it wasn’t meant to be. They have given up 11 goals over their last 5 games after all. That turns around on Saturday afternoon. Samp stinks. Scoreless and winless in 4. How much longer does Stankovic last? This could be 10-0 but probably ends up in an easy 2-0 win. ATALANTA WINS
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MILAN V SASSUOLO Deep breath. Sassuolo will forever give Milan fans a nervous twitch. No lie there. Rightly so still Sassuolo have won 2 of the last 4 matchups including the last 2 at SanSiro. the matchup earlier this year was a hideous draw at the Mapei. Of course Milan also happen to be in terrible form, will be missing Bennacer due to suspension and will also likely be with Maignan, Theo, Calabria and Tomori in the back. Fortunately Sassuolo have been just as bad. Only 1 point since the break and just 3 goals in 5 games. This stretch has seen them slide all the way to 17th place. This is kind of a test of which team still has a pulse and which is DOA. My ‘positivity’ says it ends up a 1-1 DRAW
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JUVENTUS V MONZA This will be the second meeting between these teams in just 10 days. In the Coppa fixture it was Chiesa with the winner after coming in from the bench. Despite the draw against Atalanta I think Juve will feel pretty goodcoming into this one. They are far from 100% fitness but the vets are getting better every week. Combine that with a lot of time for the kids of late and the home stretch is setting up pretty well for the old lady. Mad Max will have a LOT of weapons at his disposal soon enough. Monza meanwhile have solidified their spot. They are unbeaten in their last 5 league games and sit a respectable 13th at the halfway mark. Hard to believe after losing their first 5 games after getting promoted. It will be close but I imagine we see a late Juve goal to seal the deal JUVE WINS
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LAZIO V FIORENTINA Lazio too are on a nice, warm roll. Three straight wins with 7 scored and 0 conceded. the win against Milan was their 4th 4-0 win of the season. Trouble they usually have is balancing the highs and lows. You take out those four 4-0 wins and Lazio have just 7 wins from their other 15 games while outscoring their opponents 19-15. Either they hammer you or it’s a struggle. Before winning 3 straight they lost to Lecce and struggled to a 2-2 against Empoli. Go figure. Fiorentina remain an enigma. They are still struggling mightily to score yet are still finding results. Is Italiano good or bad? Is Fiorentina good or bad? Was the Jovic deal a total waste? Why don’t we see more from Amrabat ? La Viola are a mystery. LAZIO WINS
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NAPOLI V ROMA GAME OF THE WEEK By this point we all know the heights Napoli has reached thus far. 50 points at the midway point. Great window last summer. Osimhen at his peak. Kvara rookie of the year. Kim rock solid. Even the keeper position has been on lock down. Also 8 wins and 1 draw at home scoring nearly 3 goals a game. This is a ‘where are we now’ game for Roma. They sit in 5th. The Mourinho hype is still strong but they still can’t get over the hump. In the last 3 years Roma have exactly 1 win in 20 games against Napoli, Inter, Milan and Juve. ONE!! It’s hard to say what baring that has on this game but it’s a mentality they need to break. A guy like Dybala was brought in just for his kind of occasion. Maybe Sunday is the day they get over the hump and MOURINHO QUIETS THE MARADONA???? I say no. NAPOLI WINS
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UDINESE V VERONA Udinese has been floundering mightily. A win against Samp stemmed a miserable run of form. Then yesterday they got some awful news as Gerard Deulofeu is having yet another knee surgery. They have gotten no breaks lately yet still remain in 7th. Hellas on the other hand have been red hot. Or at least as red hot as you can be for a team that was still in dead last just a few weeks ago. They are now in 18th just 5 points back of Sassuolo. DON’T FALL FOR THE HYPE. Udinese are the better team. They should win at home. They WILL win at home. UDINESE WINS!!
There you go folks. Your friendly, neighborhood weekend preview for Serie A. Buckle up and enjoy the action.
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FORZA MILAN!
Lisi
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