It’s very difficult for every team to come back from the international break. Everyone knows that these types of breaks can bring awful consequences to each team: players can get injured in a simple match, something that would be very painful for the club if it’s an important player. But, talking about the results of Italy, things were not so good for their national team: the Spanish squad defeated the italians 3-0 and that score can carry bad thoughts for the players. Let’s see what Serie A has prepared for this return of italian football.
Great fixtures on saturday
Two matches on Saturday will open the third round of the italian football league competition. Juventus Stadium will receive Chievo after winning against Genoa two weeks ago. Massimiliano Allegri has, at first sight, an easy match: last time Chievo won to Juve was seven years ago. For that reason, betting a Juventus win it’s likely to be the best option, but Serie A has lots of surprises every week. Who knows.
At 20:45, Sampdoria will face Roma in Genoa in one of the most interesting matches of the weekend. Stadio Luigi Ferraris has not seen a Roma victory since 2013 and, in fact, last time these two teams faced each other, Sampdoria won 3-2 after making a really difficult comeback with goals by Praet, Schick and Muriel. Roma looks like the favourite to win, but the past doesn’t agree.
What about Sunday?
Sunday league fixtures start in Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Inter will receive SPAL with some injured players like Miranda and Cancelo. As it was said at the beginning, international breaks can be suffered by different teams and Cancelo is an example of that bad consequences, cause he suffered a knee injury during Portugal training and will not be able to play against SPAL. Let’s see if Spalletti can win without these players.
The outstanding match of the week will be played at 15:00. Lazio and AC Milan will face each other in one of the most important matches of the Serie A league trophy. Last year, Milan won in San Siro, but Lazio got a draw in Stadio Olimpico. This information is key to know that anything can happen this Sunday. Who has the best strategy, Inzaghi or Montella? Italian football fans will be thinking in this match for sure.
Hard-fought matches at the same time
Atalanta vs. Sassuolo Calcio can be a good fixture too. In april, these two teams met in Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia and Cristante had to score in the 73rd minute to get a point for Atalanta after Pellegrini scored the opening goal of the match in the first half. Both teams were defeated two weeks ago (Atalanta lost 3-1 against Napoli and Sassuolo Calcio lost 3-0 against Torino) so the two squads want to win not to get out of the way to their season goals.
At the same time Udinese faces Genoa and Cagliari faces Crotone, Hellas Verona will receive an interesting visit. Fiorentina has no points yet and they need to win against the local team not to lose more points which could be essential in the future. But Hellas Verona has only one point (they got a draw against Crotone in the last round) and is not willing to cooperate with Pioli wishes. It’s obvious that these two teams will make a very beautiful match.
Very interesting close of the third round
On another way, Benevento, who is in the same situation as Fiorentina (zero points in two rounds) will receive the visit of Torino in Stadio Ciro Vigorito. Baroni and Mihajlovic are looking for a victory, but Torino is set to win the match: the Mihajlovic squad has begun very good the Italian football league and Benevento comes from the second division, but may be Baroni has prepared something to surprise them.
Finally, at 20:45, Serie A will close its third round with a battle between Bologna and Napoli. Napoli has won its two matches and Bologna has four points, so both have had a good start of the competition. Last time Napoli visited Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, they won 1-7, so betting a Napoli victory is an easy option. But don’t trust italian matches. Serie A is one of the most unpredictable leagues and each match is different. Bologna may get a draw or win, but Napoli won’t surely allow any surprise.