Cagliari vs Crotone
Serdgena Arena, Cagliari
Sunday, 25-10-2020 @2:30pm
Two leaky defences meet at the Sardegna Arena on Sunday, but both Cagliari and Crotone can take confidence from positive performances in the last round.
Cagliari picked up their first win against sorry Torino last time and bounced back from back-to-back defeats in Serie A against Lazio and Atalanta.
Giovanni Simeone continues to impress up front and keeps Leonardo Pavoletti on the bench, as the Argentine surpassed 50 goals in Italy with a brace against the Granata.
But the Casteddu are leaking at the other end and are yet to keep a clean sheet in the League this term, despite some impressing performances from Alessio Cragno.
Newly promoted Crotone arrive at the Sardegna Arena after holding the reigning champions Juventus to a 1-1 draw at the Stadio Ezio Scida last weekend.
But the draw with the Bianconeri is the first and only point in Serie A for Crotone so far, after three straight defeats to Genoa, Milan and Sassuolo, conceding 11 goals in four games.
None of the sides have any major concerns ahead of Serie A Week 5.
Crotone (11) and Cagliari (10) are two of the three teams who have conceded the most in Serie A, only beaten by Benevento (12) so far.
Benevento vs Napoli
Stadio Ciro Vigorito, Benevento
Sunday, 25-10-2020 @5pm
Italy World Cup winners Filippo Inzaghi and Gennaro Gattuso meet at the Ciro Vigorito on Sunday for the third ever game in Serie A between Benevento and Napoli.
Nicolas Viola, Gabriele Moncini and Federico Barba are injured for the hosts while the former Napoli captain Christian Maggio will start as a right-back. Lorenzo Insigne’s brother Roberto will be included in Benevento’s starting XI to complete Inzaghi’s attacking trident with Gianluca Lapadula and Andrea Caprari.
Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas have recovered from Coronavirus but it is unclear whether they’ll be able to play as they must first undergo a Lega Serie A sanctioned physical test to confirm there are no lingering complications from the virus. Rino Gattuso, however, has the rest of the team available for the derby.
Benevento and Napoli have only met twice in Serie A with the Azzurri who won both games.
Parma vs Spezia
Ennio Tardini, Parma
Sunday, 25-10-2020 @5pm
Parma and Spezia will battle it out at the Ennio Tardini on Sunday trying to earn important points in their race for survival.
Parma’s Fabio Liverani is still without the injured Maxime Busi, Mattia Sprocati and Valentin Mihalia not to mention Bruno Alves who tested positive for Covid shortly ahead of their last Serie A clash lost in the final minutes of play at Udinese.
The Ducali, however, will see Andreas Cornelius return to action although the Danish striker is expected to start on the bench.
Spezia have two players who tested positive for Covid-19: Riccardo Marchizza and Giulio Maggiore plus seven others who are currently recovering from injuries.
Parma have lost five of their first six Serie B games against Spezia but remained unbeaten in the following four.
Fiorentina vs Udinese
Artemio Franchi, Florence
Sunday, 25-10-2020 @8pm
Fiorentina need to turn things around quickly to convince the bosses in Florence but face a confident Udinese side who collected their first win against Parma.
Beppe Iachini met with President Rocco Commisso and sporting director Daniele Prade this week, and the patron reassured the coach is safe in the dugout at the Artemio Franchi.
But the rumours aren’t going away and the winless streak of three games doesn’t match the investments made by the owner.
Jose Callejon, Jack Bonaventura, Sofyan Amrabat and Cristiano Biraghi seem set to be given another chance to shine and get going with their new colours, as Udinese arrive confident from a 3-2 win over Parma at the Dacia Arena last time.
The Argentine star Rodrigo de Paul stayed put and should be in the line-up against Fiorentina, with compatriot Roberto Pereyra ready to help ease his load in the middle of the park.
At the Viola, Franck Ribery has been paired in the front two with either Dusan Vlahovic or Christian Kouame, keeping Patrick Cutrone out in the cold.
Udinese picked up their first three points last time and aim to build on the positive result, as both sides are desperate to start climbing the table.
Fiorentina have a great record against the Friuli and are unbeaten in eight meetings and only Juventus have more wins against Udinese in Serie A.
But the Bianconeri have won four of their last six away games in the top tier, despite having lost the only match away to Hellas Verona this term.
Udinese have conceded the first goal in the match in all four initial games in Serie A 2020-21, as Fiorentina have scored the first goal in three of four games so far.
Juventus vs Hellas Verona
Allianz Stadium, Torino
Sunday, 25-10-2020 @10:15pm
Verona are only one point off Juventus in the Serie A table as the Old Lady host the Gialloblu at the Allianz Stadium on Sunday evening.
Andrea Pirlo is still without the likes of Weston McKennie and Cristiano Ronaldo who haven’t recovered from Covid yet, while Paulo Dybala seeks his first start of the season. Gianluca Frabotta could replace Federico Chiesa on the left while Merih Demiral will take Giorgio Chiellini’s spot at the back as the Old Lady’s captain is out of action with an injury.
Miguel Veloso is still absent for Verona due to a muscular injury and the same is true of Andrea Danzi, Marco Benassi, Mert Cetin and Pawel Dawidowicz while Koray Gunter has caught Covid.
Juventus scored in each one of their last 14 Serie A games against Verona. The Bianconeri won nine of them with three draws and two defeats.
Serie A upcoming game
Monday, 26-10-2020
-AC Milan vs AS Roma @9:45pm
Results so far
Friday, 23-10-2020
-Sassuolo 3-3 Torino
Saturday, 24-10-2020
-Atalanta 1-2 Sampdoria
-Genoa 0-2 Inter Milan
-Lazio 2-1 Bologna
