Inter Milan vs Bologna
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Sunday, 05-07-20202 @6:15pm
Inter finally turned on the style in a 6-0 demolition of Brescia and will hope to build some confidence against stuttering Bologna.
The Nerazzurri rotated the squad and still crushed the opposition at San Siro on Wednesday evening, a far cry from the lucky escape against Parma last weekend. Antonio Conte complains of excessive criticism, but the performances did not reflect the results even when they did win, so the pressure is still on to create some momentum.
Bologna, on the other hand, are stuck mid-table after faltering in the push for Europe and doing enough to get away from the drop zone. The 1-1 draw with Cagliari left them in no man’s land, but Musa Barrow and Riccardo Orsolini are beginning form a fascinating partnership either side of ex-Inter veteran Rodrigo Palacio.
Bologna have not kept a clean sheet since a 0-0 draw away to Genoa on September 25.
Cagliari vs Atalanta
Serdgena Arena, Cagliari
Sunday, 05-07-20202 @8:30pm
Atalanta look unstoppable after seven consecutive victories and visit Walter Zenga’s Cagliari, who are unbeaten in three.
Nobody has come out of the long break looking better than La Dea, who confirmed they are not just capable of crazy goalfests after a clinical 2-0 win over Napoli. That gave them a 15-point lead in fourth place and there’s no reason why they can’t aim higher, especially with a full squad at their disposal in Sardinia.
Cagliari have been a bit of a mixed bag since Zenga took over, losing narrowly at Hellas Verona, beating SPAL and Torino, then drawing Bologna midweek. Luca Pellegrini is suspended, adding to the numerous injury concerns in a weakened defence.
Cagliari have won four of their last five Serie A meetings with Atalanta, including a 2-0 result earlier this season. However, La Dea could register five consecutive away victories for the first time in their history.
Parma vs Fiorentina
Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma
Sunday, 05-07-20202 @8:30pm
Fiorentina are in crisis and sliding dangerously towards the relegation zone, so a trip to counter-attack specialists Parma is not what they needed right now.
Beppe Iachini’s future already seems to be sealed, but he’ll do well to get to the end of the current campaign at this rate.
The Viola are without a win in five, losing the last two, and the 3-1 home defeat to Sassuolo infuriated club directors. They threatened retribution unless performances pick up considerably, warning some of these star players are ruining their own hopes of a big transfer.
The positive news is that Martin Caceres returns from suspension to bolster the defence, but Dusan Vlahovic sits out a ban. We could see Federico Chiesa return to a wide role, using Patrick Cutrone alongside Franck Ribery, but that remains to be seen.
Parma have lost two on the bounce as well, but they were both hard-fought battles with Inter and Hellas Verona, in which the Ducali threw away leads.
Hernani is suspended, with Roberto Inglese and Alberto Grassi long-term absentees. Gervinho should be back in the starting XI after he was rested against Verona.
Fiorentina have failed to score in their last two Serie A visits to Parma.
Udinese vs Genoa
Darcia Arena, Udinese
Sunday, 05-07-2020 @8:30pm
Udinese received an unexpected lifeline in their 2-0 win away to 10-man Roma, but are still only six points clear of the relegation zone, while Genoa hover just one point above the bottom three.
These two clubs consider themselves too big to go down, but that’s not how football works and they are in the thick of this battle to stay in Serie A. The Friulani can thank Roma self-destructing, as that ended their nine-round winless streak and created a small buffer from the drop zone.
Genoa have really struggled to rediscover the form they were showing in the weeks leading up to the lockdown, as the long break really sapped their growing momentum. They’ve managed just one point from three games and so far the squad rotation has not so much kept players fresh and left them with no real identity as a team.
Genoa have lost their last three Serie A trips to Udine, but the last time they suffered four straight defeats here was in the 1950s.
Brescia vs Hellas Verona
Stadio Mario Rigamonti, Brescia
Sunday, 05-07-20202 @8:30pm
Hellas Verona got back on track and remain in the hunt for a European place, but Brescia look increasingly doomed after a 6-0 mauling by Inter.
Ivan Juric’s men had slowed down since returning from the lockdown, but the fightback to beat Parma 3-2 showed some of the old spark that made them the surprise outfit of the season. They hope to build some momentum against a Brescia side practically already in Serie B.
The Rondinelle had done so well to snatch draws with Fiorentina and Genoa, but were torn to shreds at San Siro in a 6-0 humiliation midweek. Mario Balotelli is frozen out, they have injury problems and a thin squad not suited to this level.
Verona have won all three games this season against the other newly-promoted sides. The last to make it a clean four was also Verona in 2013-14.
Sampdoria vs SPAL
Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Sunday, 05-07-2020 @8:30pm
Sampdoria managed to break away from the relegation zone with victory at Lecce, but they’re far from safe and take on a SPAL side that almost beat Milan.
It remains pretty tight at the bottom of the table, with several clubs who could easily be sucked back into danger. Samp thanked some controversial penalty decisions for the 2-1 result at Lecce, allowing them to break four points clear of the bottom three. More good news for Claudio Ranieri is that Fabio Quagliarella should be back on the bench after his injury lay-off.
SPAL came within seconds of beating Milan, despite being down to 10 men, and only a very unfortunate Francesco Vicari own goal saw them held to a 2-2 draw in stoppages. Marco D’Alessandro is suspended following that red card and the Ferrara club are seven points adrift of safety.
Andrea Petagna has never scored against Sampdoria in Serie A, despite facing them seven times.
Napoli vs AS Roma
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Sunday, 05-07-2020 @10:45pm
It has been a rough week for both teams, as they are fresh off costly defeats, but now go head-to-head for fifth place in the Derby del Sole.
Napoli saw their seemingly unstoppable march up the table come to a halt at the hands of giant-killers Atalanta, but remain only three points off Roma in fifth place thanks to the Giallorossi’s embarrassing 2-0 home defeat to relegation strugglers Udinese.
Diego Perotti saw red and is therefore suspended, but even when Roma had all 11 men on the field, they were still desperately disappointing and regularly caught on the counter-attack. They proved once again that if Edin Dzeko doesn’t score, the rest of the squad simply cannot cope, and this was their second game in a row without finding the net after another 2-0 loss to Milan.
Napoli had hoped to make a late surge for the top four, but Atalanta put paid to that dream. They are already in the Europa League after winning the Coppa Italia, but Gennaro Gattuso never likes to lose and will push for fifth place anyway.
Roma have not beaten Napoli home and away in the same Serie A season since 1997-98, when Zdenek Zeman was their coach. The Giallorossi won 2-1 earlier this term
Saturday’s Serie A results
-Juventus 4-1 Torino
-Sassuolo 4-2 Lecce
-Napoli 3-0 AS Roma
