It is matchday seven in the Italian Serie A as league leaders Juventus travel to Tuscany to face a lackluster Empoli side, while second placed Napoli will try and take the challenge to Juventus as they travel to Atalanta. Milan face one of their bogey sides in Serie A – Sassuolo at the Stadio San Siro
Though early days in the season, Serie A appears to be a two-horse race early on with Juventus at the summit and Napoli giving chase. But the Partenoepei face a tricky Atalanta side. Further down the table, Milan will look to capitalise on Sassuolo’s recent crisis.
Milan vs Sassuolo
Vincenzo Montella’s side have had a decent string of performance in the last 3 games, 2 of which they won. The Rossoneri were outplayed by a plucky Fiorentina side, but Gigi Donnarumma managed to make sure that Paulo Sousa’s side were not able to put the ball past his net at the Artemio Franchi.
The Rossoneri are sure to have sweaty hands before facing a Neroverdi side that have done so well against them in the past few seasons.
Probable lineups (4-3-3) Donnarumma; Calabria, Paletta, Romagnoli, De Sciglio; Kucka, Montolivo, Bonaventura; Suso, Bacca, Niang.
The problem for Eusebio Di Fransesco’s side however is their injury list which includes Domenico Berardi, Alessandro Matri, Paolo Cannavaro, Simone Missiroli, Alfred Duncan and Stefano Sensi. Berardi has an infamous record of scoring against Milan as the Rossoneri faithful still remembers the hattrick he scored against them two seasons ago.
Probable lineups (4-3-3) Consigli; Lirola, Acerbi, Antei, Peluso; Biondini, Magnanelli, Pellegrini; Politano, Defrel, Ricci
Players to watch out for
Matteo Politano (Sassuolo), Carlos Bacca (Milan)
Prediction
Milan 1-1 Sasssuolo
Empoli vs Juventus
Empoli are easily relegation favourites this season as Giovanni Martusciello’s men have earned just four points from their opening six matches which places them in the bottom of the league with Crotone. Predictably, Manuel Pucciarelli and Massimmo Maccarone’s goals have dried up after two seasons. Maccarone is now 37 and is the oldest first-team striker in the league.
Probable Formation (4-3-1-2) Skorupski; Laurini, Bellusci, Costa, Pasqual; Tello, Mauri, Croce; Saponara; Pucciarelli, Maccarone
Juventus will travel to Empoli having the best defensive record in the league. They seem to have shaken off the disastrous week when they drew against Sevilla and lost to Inter. Max Allegri’s side has gone 282 minutes without conceding after the derby loss to Inter. They were hugely impressive in midweek as they demolished a Dinamo Zagreb side 4 goals to nil.
Probable Formation (3-5-2) Buffon; Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini; Alves, Khedira, Lemina, Pjanic, Alex Sandro; Higuain, Dybala
Players to watch out for
Jose Mauri (Empoli), Mario Lemina (Juventus)
Prediction
Empoli 0-4 Juventus
Atalanta vs Empoli
Gianpiero Gasperini will miss the much sought after midfielder the Ivorian Franck Kessie, as the 19 year old remains suspended along with Aleksandar Pesic (foot) and Emanuele Suagher (cruciate ligament) with injuries.
Alberto Grassi who is set to start may have a point to prove against the club that owns him as he was loaned this summer after playing only a total of 90 minutes in six months for Napoli.
Probable Formation (3-4-3) Berisha; Masiello, Toloi, Zukanovic; Konko, Freuler, Grassi, Kurtic; D’Alessandro, Paloschi, Gomez
Napoli are the only unbeaten side this season in Italy till now as they look to keep pace with Juventus. While Juventus have the best defensive record this season, Napoli have the best joint offensive record with AS Roma as both teams have scored 14 goals a piece this season.
Napoli would be wary of this trip to Bergamo as they have lost points to lesser teams (Pescara and Genoa) in the league this season. Nikola Maksimovic will have his Serie A debut as Raul Albiol is yet to recover from the injury he sustained in the Champions League tie in midweek.
Probable Formation (4-3-3) Reina; Hysaj, Koulibaly, Maksimovic, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Milik, Insigne
Players to watch out for
Papu Gomez (Atalanta), Nikola Maksimovic (Napoli)
Prediction
Atalanta 1-3 Napoli
