Matchday 34 Serie A TIM 2019-20 18 - 20 July 2020 HELLAS VERONA vs ATALANTA This will be the 40th Serie A TIM meeting between Verona and Atalanta: the Bergamaschi lead by 16 wins to 10, with 13 draws. Atalanta have won their three Serie A TIM games against Verona under Gasperini, scoring 11 goals - the Veneti had managed to win five of the previous seven (D2). The last meeting between these two sides at the Bentegodi ended 5-0 for Atalanta – that was only the second time that Hellas failed to score at home against Atalanta in Serie A TIM. Verona have won five of their seven home games in Serie A TIM this calendar year (D1 L1). Atalanta are the only unbeaten side in away games in Serie A TIM in 2020. Atalanta have scored in each of their last 21 games in Serie A TIM, their joint-best run alongside one from the 1955-56 campaign. Between goals and assists, only Inter have produced more goals from their full-backs in Serie A TIM this season than Atalanta (22) and Verona (16). Ivan Juric has lost both of his two previous games as a manager against Atalanta. With his goal against Roma, Matteo Pessina reached six league goals this season - excluding penalties, no Verona midfielder has done better in a single Serie A TIM campaign in the three points for a win era. Since he joined Atalanta, Josip Ilicic has scored four goals in three games against Verona, including a hat-trick in March 2018. CAGLIARI vs SASSUOLO Sassuolo have shared six draws so far in Serie A TIM against Cagliari, more than against any other opponent – two wins for the Sardinians and three for the Emiliani complete their H2H record. Cagliari’s last win against Sassuolo in Serie A TIM was in December 2016 (4-3 at the Sant’Elia) –since then there have been three draws and three losses for the Sardinians in this fixture. Sassuolo have kept a clean sheet in three of their last five Serie A TIM games against Cagliari –previously they had always conceded at least once in six games against them. Sassuolo have won only one of their five trips to Sardinia so far in Serie A TIM (two wins for the hosts and two draws). Cagliari have won only one of their last eight home games (D2 L5), previously they had won four from four in Sardinia. Sassuolo have won their last three away games and could make it four in a row for the first time in the top-flight. Cagliari have failed to score in their last two home games – the last time they didn’t score in three consecutive home games in Serie A TIM was in December 2012. Francesco Caputo is one of just two players across Europe’s top five leagues to score at least 15 goals with two different teams over the last two seasons, along with Wissam Ben Yedder (with Sevilla and Monaco). Cagliari striker Giovanni Simeone made his Serie A TIM debut in September 2016 against Sassuolo, when he was at Genoa. Sassuolo forward Gregoire Defrel played his first Serie A TIM game in May 2011, against Cagliari, on his only league appearance for Parma. MILAN vs BOLOGNA AC Milan have won seven of their last eight Serie A TIM games against Bologna (D1), keeping four clean sheets in the process. Bologna have conceded 224 goals in the top-flight against the Rossoneri – more than against any other opponent. AC Milan have lost only three of their last 39 Serie A TIM games against Bologna at the San Siro, the last one coming in January 2016 when their head coach was Sinisa Mihajlovic. AC Milan have scored at least two goals in all seven Serie A TIM games played since the restart -20 goals in total. Since the beginning of December Bologna have won six Serie A TIM games played away from home (D1 L2), no team has done better in this period. Sinisa Mihajlovic has never won against AC Milan in his managerial career (D5 L7) – he recorded 13 wins, 10 draws and nine losses when he was in charge of the Rossoneri in 2015/16. Stefano Pioli’s longest spell as a Serie A TIM manager was at Bologna between 2011 and 2014 (W27 D28 L34). Giacomo Bonaventura has scored four goals in his four league games against Bologna for AC Milan – his joint-most in Serie A TIM with the Rossoneri. AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored four goals and made one assist in his last five Serie A TIM appearances against Bologna. Bologna midfielder Roberto Soriano played his first ever Serie A TIM game in August 2012, against AC Milan. PARMA vs SAMPDORIA These two sides have met 41 times so far in Serie A TIM: Parma lead by 16 wins to 14, with 11 draws. After beating Sampdoria four times in a row between 2010 and 2012, Parma have won only two of the following eight games against the Blucerchiati (D3 L3). Parma have won four of their last six home games against Sampdoria in Serie A TIM, but in the two most recent games they have picked up a draw and a loss. Since 2010, only one of the 26 goals scored in this fixture was from outside the box: Silvestre Varela in 2015. Since the restart, Parma have had the worst home record in Serie A TIM (D1 L2). No team have won more games than Sampdoria in the last five Serie A TIM matchdays: four out of five (equal with Atalanta and Sassuolo). The Blucerchiati could reach three consecutive wins in the competition for the first time since December 2018. Roberto D'Aversa has a record of a win, a defeat and a draw against Sampdoria in Serie A TIM. Parma striker Roberto Inglese scored in his first two Serie A TIM appearances but failed to score in the following three against the Blucerchiati. Gervinho’s first Serie A goal was in September 2013, against Sampdoria, when he was at Roma; this is the only goal the Parma striker has scored in seven meetings against the Blucerchiati in the Italian top-flight. Fabio Quagliarella has scored 83 goals in Serie A TIM for Sampdoria, two short of Gianluca Vialli (85), who is currently the Blucerchiati’s third-best goal scorer in the top-flight. BRESCIA vs SPAL The Serie A TIM record between these two sides is perfectly even, with two wins apiece and three draws. Brescia have never beaten SPAL at home in Serie A TIM (D2 L1), though all those meetings were back in the 1960’s. Since their return to Serie A TIM, SPAL had lost only once in their first 10 meetings against newly promoted teams (W7 D2), while they’ve lost each of the four meetings against teams promoted from Serie B so far in this campaign. Brescia won 1-0 in the reverse fixture courtesy of a goal from Mario Balotelli; SPAL could become the first opponents that Brescia beat home and away in the same Serie A TIM season since Reggina in 2004/05. Only Norwich (0.4) and Dijon (0.5) have scored fewer goals per game than SPAL (0.6) away from home this season in their respective leagues (top five European leagues only). Brescia have won only two home games so far this season – the worst such record of any side in Europe’s top five leagues this season. Before Brescia and SPAL, each of the previous 19 teams that had lost at least 22 of their first 33 matches in Serie A TIM went on to be relegated to Serie B. Only Lecce (232) have faced more shots on target than Brescia (198) and SPAL (194) so far in this Serie A TIM campaign. Brescia striker Ernesto Torregrossa scored in the last match against Atalanta, and could find the net in consecutive Serie A TIM games for the first time in his career. SPAL midfielder Simone Missiroli made his Serie A TIM debut in April 2005 against Brescia, when he was at Reggina. FIORENTINA vs TORINO Torino have beaten Fiorentina 48 times in the top-flight – more than any other opponent; the Granata have won 45 times so far, with 48 draws. Fiorentina have scored in each of their last 12 Serie A TIM games against Torino, since a 0-0 draw in Piemonte back in January 2014. Torino’s last win away to Florence in Serie A TIM was in October 1976 – since then the Viola have won 15 times, with 14 draws. Fiorentina have won only one of their last 13 home games in the league (D7 L5), back in January vs SPAL, and they’ve never scored more than a single goal in the process. Torino have lost their last seven away games – their worst run since 1933/34. Moreno Longo has lost 11 of the first 13 away games as a Serie A TIM manager (84.6%) – the worst ratio for any manager with at least 12 away games in charge. Fiorentina’s head coach Giuseppe Iachini has beaten Torino only once in eight Serie A TIM games as a manager (D4 L3). Erick Pulgar is Fiorentina’s best scorer of the season with six goals – the Chilean midfielder has already equalled his personal best in a single Serie A TIM campaign (in 2018/19 for Bologna). Torino full-back Lorenzo De Silvestri made his Serie A TIM debut against Fiorentina in April 2007 when he was at Lazio.