Matchday 35 Serie A TIM 2019-2021 - 23 July 2020

ATALANTA BOLOGNAvsAtalanta and Bologna have met 97 times so far in Serie A TIM: Bologna lead by 37 wins to 34,with 26 draws.

After winning seven games in a row against Bologna, Atalanta lost their last meeting againstthem. Indeed, Bologna last won consecutive league games against Atalanta in 1968.

Atalanta and Bologna have met 48 times in Bergamo in Serie A TIM: the hosts have won on26 occasions (D15), while Bologna have won seven times.

Atalanta have won their last five home games against Bologna in the league – they’ve neverwon six in a row in Bergamo against the Felsinei.

With a goal in this match, Atalanta could become the first Serie A TIM side to score 95 goalsin a single campaign since Fiorentina in 1958/59.

Atalanta are unbeaten in their last 14 league games – their longest such run since 1988/89.Should they avoid defeat in this game, they would set a new club record in Serie A TIM.

Atalanta are one of only three teams in Europe’s top five leagues with two players registeringat least 17 goals this season (along with Liverpool and Manchester United).

Bologna have conceded in 29 games in a row – only two sides in the Serie A TIM history havehad longer such streaks: Novara (30 games between 1956 and 2012) and Verona (31between 1992 and 1997).

Josip Ilicic has scored seven goals in his 15 league appearances against Bologna – more thanagainst any other team in Serie A TIM.

Bologna’s forward Riccardo Orsolini played eight Serie A TIM games without scoring a singlegoal for Atalanta in 2017/18. With a goal, Orsolini could set his personal goal scoring recordin a single Serie A TIM season (nine).

SASSUOLO MILANvsAC Milan lead by seven wins to four against Sassuolo in Serie A TIM, with the sides alsoplaying out two draws.

Sassuolo’s last win against the Rossoneri was in March 2016 – since then, AC Milan havenotched up five wins and two draws against them.

In Serie A TIM meetings at Sassuolo’s ground, these two sides have registered three winsapiece - they have yet to share a draw at Reggio Emilia.

AC Milan were victorious on the last occasion these two teams faced each other in the secondhalf of the season – the Rossoneri have never won their second fixture of the season againstSassuolo in two consecutive campaigns.

AC Milan have scored at least two goals in each of their last eight league fixtures – their bestsuch run since 1964/65, when they did so in 10 consecutive games.

Before the lockdown, AC Milan were facing on average 12.1 shots per game (4.5 on target) –now they’re facing an average of 9.8 (three of which on target).

Two of Sassuolo’s last three goals have come from set pieces (a direct free-kick and one fromcorner). Previously, they had scored only two set-piece goals in their last 11 in Serie A TIM.

Sassuolo midfielder Filip Djuricic’s first Serie A TIM goal came back in September 2018 as theyhosted AC Milan at Reggio Emilia.

Sassuolo’s striker Domenico Berardi has already scored eight goals in 11 league appearancesagainst AC Milan; more than he’s scored against any other team in Serie A TIM. However, hislast goal against the Rossoneri was in October 2015 and he has failed to score in his last sixappearances against them.

Hakan Calhanoglu has scored seven goals in Serie A TIM this season – his best tally since2014/15 when he netted eight in the Bundesliga for Bayer Leverkusen.

PARMA NAPOLIvsParma and Napoli have met 35 times so far in Serie A TIM: the Partenopei have won 15games to Parma’s 13, with the other seven ending as draws.

The last seven meetings between Parma and Napoli have seen three wins apiece and a drawbetween the teams.

Parma have won eight games to Napoli’s six at the Tardini (D3).

The Ducali have won only one of their last eight home games against Napoli (D2 L5).

Parma have found the net in their last nine league games, their longest run since they scoredin 11 consecutive games in April 2014.

Only Inter (18) have had more different goalscorers than Napoli (16) in Serie A TIM thisseason.

Napoli are the only side in Europe’s top five leagues to have hit the woodwork 50 times acrossthe last two seasons.

Only two of Gervinho’s seven goals of the season have been scored in home games, howeverthose two goals came in his last three appearances at the Tardini, where he had not scored inhis previous 14 league games.

Napoli’s captain Lorenzo Insigne scored his first Serie A TIM goal in September 2012 againstParma.

Napoli’s Piotr Zielinski has played the most games (44) among Serie A TIM players in allcompetitions in 2019/20.

INTER FIORENTINAvsInter have played 163 games and scored 210 goals so far against Fiorentina – more thanagainst any other Serie A TIM opponent.

After losing five games out of six against Fiorentina, Inter are now unbeaten in their last fivemeetings against the Viola (W2 D3).

Inter have beaten Fiorentina 48 times so far at home, losing 15 times and sharing 18 draws.

These two sides haven’t shared a single draw in their last 20 meetings at the San Siro (17Inter wins, 3 Fiorentina wins).

Inter have lost 22 points from leading situations this season in Serie A TIM – the most they’vedropped in a season in the three-points-for-a-win era.

Fiorentina have won their last two away games – they haven’t won three in a row on the roadin Serie A TIM since April 2018.

The Viola have won their last two games, as many as in their previous 12 games in Serie ATIM.

Nine of Fiorentina’s last 10 goals against Inter have been scored in the second half – the onlyexception was Stefan de Vrij’s own goal after 16 seconds of their game in February 2019.

Inter’s Alexis Sanchez has been involved in nine goals post-lockdown, scoring two and makingseven assists; only Cristiano Ronaldo has been involved in more since the June restart (11).

Fiorentina’s striker Dusan Vlahovic made his Serie A TIM debut in September 2018 in a gameagainst Inter.

LECCE BRESCIAvsIn 13 previous Serie A TIM meetings between Lecce and Brescia, both sides have won fivegames apiece (D3).

Lecce lost their last game against Brescia, after they had remained unbeaten in their previousfive meetings (W4 D1).

At Lecce in Serie A TIM, both Lecce and Brescia have registered three wins each in the sixprevious encounters.

Lecce are unbeaten in the second half of the season in their last three games against Brescia(W2 D1), previously Brescia had won three in a row against them.

Brescia beat SPAL in their last league game – the only time they’ve won consecutive gamesthis season was in the reverse fixtures against SPAL and Lecce.

Lecce have conceded 36 goals at the Via del Mare in this campaign – only two sides haveconceded more at home after 17 games in a season: Benevento in 2017/18 (37) and Pescarain 2016/17 (37).

Since the start of 2020, Brescia have collected only one point away from home in eightmatches (a draw against Fiorentina).

Lecce have won only one of their last 10 league games (D1 L8); a win for them wouldrelegate Brescia to Serie B.

Alfredo Donnarumma has been directly involved in 50% of Brescia’s 10 goals in Serie A TIMsince the restart (3 goals, 2 assists).

Marco Mancosu has already scored 12 goals in this campaign. With another goal, he wouldequal his best season tally (13 in the last Serie B campaign).

SAMPDORIA GENOAvsThis will be the 74th “Derby della Lanterna” in Serie A TIM: Sampdoria have won 29 games toGenoa’s 17, with 27 draws.

Sampdoria are unbeaten in their last seven derbies against Genoa (W5 D2), their longestunbeaten run since 1994.

Genoa have won the Derby only eight times as a visiting team, with Sampdoria winning 14times (14 draws).

Over the last 13 matches between Genoa and Sampdoria played in the second half of theseason, no side has managed consecutive wins in this fixture – Sampdoria won the last oneback in April 2019.

Sampdoria won their last two home games without conceding a single goal – the last timethey won three in a row keeping three clean sheets was in January 2019.

This is only the third time that Sampdoria scored at least three goals in three consecutive SerieA TIM games, also doing so in 1948 and 1951. They’ve never managed to do so in fourconsecutive games in the top-flight.

Sampdoria have won more points than any other Serie A TIM team in July (15 – W5 L1).

The reverse fixture back in December saw Claudio Ranieri become the first Serie A TIMmanager to manage in each of Italy’s main city derbies (Genova, Milano, Torino and Roma).

Three of Fabio Quagliarella’s five goals in the “Derby della Lanterna” came in their last fivemeetings, while he had scored only two in the previous 14.

Genoa have won 33.3% of the games they played with Antonio Sanabria as a starter (five of15), while they’ve won only 15.8% of the games he didn’t start.

SPAL ROMAvsRoma lead by 14 wins to 12 in meetings against SPAL in Serie A TIM, with the pair playingout nine draws. 

Since their return to Serie A TIM, SPAL haven’t shared a single draw against Roma in thecompetition, winning twice and losing three times to the Giallorossi. 

SPAL have beaten Roma 10 times at home while losing four and sharing three draws in thetop-flight. 

Five of the last nine goals scored in the games between SPAL and Roma have been from thepenalty spot. 

Roma have scored at least two goals in each of their last four league fixtures, this after theyhad netted only one in the previous three combined. 

Roma have scored 29 goals away from home in Serie A TIM this term; only on twooccasions have the Giallorossi netted more on the road after 16 away games in thecompetition (2000/01 and 2015/16). 

SPAL have lost five consecutive league games, scoring only one goal in the process – they’venever lost six in a row before in the top-flight. 

SPAL head coach Luigi Di Biagio scored 16 goals in his 114 Serie A TIM appearances as aRoma player between 1995 and 1999. 

Andrea Petagna has scored three goals in Serie A TIM for SPAL against Roma, all whichcoming from the penalty spot. 

SPAL defenders Kevin Bonifazi’s first ever Serie A TIM goal was in a game against Roma inOctober 2018. 

Edin Dzeko has scored 77 goals so far for Roma in Serie A TIM. He is one goal short orbecoming the joint-sixth highest scorer in the competition for the club, along with AbelBalbo. 

TORINO HELLAS VERONAvsTorino have shared 21 draws against Verona – more than they have against any other SerieA TIM opponent so far. 

Four of the last five league meetings between Torino and Verona have ended as a draw,with the Veneti having the better in the other. 

Verona have managed to win just three times away at Torino in Serie A TIM, with the hostswinning 10 times (12 draws). 

Torino have won only one of their last nine home games against Verona in Serie A TIM (D6L2). 

Verona have played out 12 draws so far in this Serie A TIM campaign – ajoint-high alongside Fiorentina. 

Only SPAL (25) and Brescia (22) have lost more games than Torino (19) so far this season inSerie A TIM. This is the Granata’s worst such record after 34 games since 2002/03 whenthey had lost 21 at that stage of the season. 

Verona have conceded just seven goals in the opening 30 minutes of play this season –fewer than any other side in Serie A TIM. 

Torino’s Cristian Ansaldi scored his first Serie A TIM brace in the reverse fixture againstVerona back in December. 

Matteo Pessina is the first Verona midfielder to score at least seven goals in a single Serie ATIM season since Jorginho in 2013/14. 

Verona midfielder Valerio Verre made his Serie A TIM debut in August 2012 in a gameagainst Torino – his only goal against the Granata was in the reverse fixture. 

UDINESE JUVENTUSvsUdinese have lost 62 games and conceded 191 goals in Serie A TIM against Juventus – morethan against any other opponent. 

Juventus are unbeaten in their last eight games against Udinese in Serie A TIM (W7 D1) andhave scored an average of three goals per game in the process. 

Juventus haven’t lost against Udinese in the second half of a league campaign since 2011 –since then, the Old Lady has won nine times and shared two draws.  

Udinese have beaten Juventus only five times on home soil in Serie A TIM, losing 27 timesand sharing 13 draws. 

Juventus have lost three of their last seven league games on the road (W3 D1), as many asthey had lost in their previous 13 away games. 

Juventus have conceded 36 goals after the first 34 games of the season – their worst recordsince 2010/11, when they finished 7th in the league and ultimately conceded 47 goals. 

Udinese’s last home league win was back in January against Sassuolo – since then, they’velost three and shared four draws at the Friuli. 

Juan Musso has kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in Serie A TIM thisseason (12); the last goalkeeper to keep more in a top-flight campaign for Udinesewas Samir Handanovic (17 clean sheets in 2011/12). 

Juventus striker Paulo Dybala has already scored seven goals and provided six assistsagainst Udinese in Serie A TIM – he has not been involved in more goals against anyother opponent in the competition. 

Cristiano Ronaldo is only one goal away from equalling Felice Borel (31 goals in1933/34) to become the highest scorer in a single Serie A TIM campaign inJuventus’ history. 

LAZIO CAGLIARIvsLazio lead by 34 wins to 17 in Serie A TIM meetings with Cagliari, with the pair playingout 16 draws. 

Lazio are unbeaten in their last 11 league games against Cagliari (W9 D2). 

Lazio have hosted Cagliari 33 times so far in Serie A TIM, winning 21 and sharing five draws(L7). 

Lazio have won their last eight home games against Cagliari in Serie A TIM. 

After going unbeaten in 16 home league games in a row (W12 D4), Lazio have since losttheir last two such games at the Olimpico. The last time they lost three in a row at theirground was in November 2007.  

Only Cagliari (two goals) have scored fewer goals than Lazio (three) in Serie ATIM in July. 

Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi has faced Cagliari seven times as a manager in Serie A TIMwithout losing against them (W5 D2). 

Lazio’s Ciro Immobile scored his first goal in Serie A TIM in a game against Cagliari inAugust 2012, when he was at Genoa. He has netted seven in nine appearances against theSardinians so far. 

João Pedro has already scored 18 goals during this Serie A TIM season forCagliari, just one short of how many he had scored in his previous three seasons combinedin the top-flight. 

Cagliari’s João Pedro scored his first goal in Serie A TIM against Lazio in November2014 – he also found the net against the Biancocelesti in the reverse fixture back inDecember.