Napoli vs Atalanta
Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Saturday, 17-10-2020 @4pm
Napoli will be fired up and furious after the Juventus controversy, but host leaders Atalanta, who boast a perfect record so far.
The Partenopei were docked one point and given a 3-0 defeat after the Disciplinary Commission ruled they did not do everything possible to attend the Week 3 trip to the Juventus Stadium.
Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas are still out after contracting COVID-19, but the outbreak was contained.
Atalanta won their opening three Serie A matches for the first time in their history, scoring 13 goals and conceding five, leading some to believe they could challenge for the Scudetto.
Atalanta are the first team in Serie A history to score at least four goals in each of their opening three games of the season. The last to achieve this in Europe’s top five leagues was Real Madrid in 1987-88.
Inter Milan vs AC Milan
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
Saturday, 17-10-2020 @7pm
An exciting Derby della Madonnina for the top of the table has been overshadowed by COVID-19 cases in both teams.
Inter started the season as arguably Scudetto favourites, while Milan built on Stefano Pioli’s improvements to open with a perfect record of three clean sheet victories.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recovered from COVID-19 and is ready to start, although Ante Rebic is still out following a dislocated elbow.
The Nerazzurri were harder hit by the outbreak, losing Milan Skriniar, Radja Nainggolan, Ashley Young, Roberto Gagliardini and Ionut Radu. Add to that list injured Matias Vecino and suspended Stefano Sensi, it’s suddenly a very short squad for Antonio Conte.
Inter have won their last four Serie A meetings with Milan, the longest successful streak since five from 1979-83.
Sampdoria vs Lazio
Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
Saturday, 17-10-2020 @7pm
It has been a troubled start to the campaign for both clubs and Lazio must do without Ciro Immobile and Manuel Lazzari against Sampdoria.
The Aquile picked up one point from the last two matches, including a chaotic 1-1 draw with Inter which saw Immobile sent off and therefore suspended.
Lazzari picked up an injury on international duty and is also out, along with Luiz Felipe and Adam Marusic, while new signing Vedat Muriqi is probably only ready for the bench. Marco Parolo might therefore have to be a makeshift centre-back.
Samp suffered a shock defeat to Benevento, but went some way to making up for that by surprising Fiorentina at the Stadio Franchi. They need to end their Lazio taboo at Marassi to find some consistency, though.
Samp have just one win from their last 17 Serie A meetings with Lazio, drawing three and losing 13. That includes four consecutive home defeats.
Crotone vs Juventus
Stadio Ezio Scida, Crotone
Saturday, 17-10-2020 @9:45pm
Juventus travel to Crotone three weeks after their last competitive game to face the newly promoted Serie A side that have had a rough start to the season with three defeats from three games and 10 goals conceded, the worst defensive record in Serie A so far.
The Old Lady are living in a bubble at the J Hotel after Weston McKennie tested positive for Covid-19 on October 14, one day after Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair will be out of action at the Ezio Scida and the same is true of the injured Aaron Ramsey and Matthijs de Ligt.
Gigi Buffon may start in place of Wojciech Szczesny while Federico Chiesa should make his debut in black-and-white after a loan move with option to buy from Fiorentina in the deadline day.
Paulo Dybala has yet to make his first appearance this season and should travel with the team although he didn’t play at all with Argentina during the International break due to gastrointestinal problems.
Crotone are without the injured Ahmad Benali and Emmanuel Riviere while Gian Marco Crespi and Giuseppe Cuomo have recovered from their injuries and are back into Giovanni Stroppa’s squad list.
After three defeats in a row with zero goals scored, Crotone managed a 1-1 draw against Juventus in their most recent meeting in April 2018.
Sunday’s fixtures
-Bologna vs Sassuolo @2pm
-Spezia vs Fiorentina @4pm
-Torino vs Cagliari @4pm
-Udines vs Parma @7pm
-AS Roma vs Benevento @9:45om
Monday’s fixture
-Hellas Verona vs Genoa @9:45pm
