Matchday 31 Serie A TIM 2020-21 17 - 18 April 2021 17/04/2021 15:00 - EZIO SCIDA CROTONE Vs UDINESE Crotone and Udinese are equally matched in their previous five Serie A TIM meetings, with two wins each and one draw; indeed, only against Chievo (3) have Crotone won more games in the top-flight than against Udinese (2). Crotone have won their two matches against Udinese in Serie A TIM in the second half of the season: 1-0 on MD36 in 2016-17 and 2-1 on MD34 in 2017-18. Crotone have lost 14 of their 16 Serie A TIM games in 2021, at least two more defeats than any other team in the top five European Leagues in this period. Udinese have lost each of their last three games in Serie A TIM, last losing more consecutive matches back in October 2018 under Julio Velázquez (4). Since Serse Cosm took charge, Crotone have scored 14 goals in six games in Serie A TIM, only fewer than Juventus, Napoli and Atalanta (16 each) – nonetheless, Crotone are the side with the fewest points earned in this period in the competition (3). No team has scored more goals than Udinese via crosses since the start of February in Serie A TIM (five). Udinese have only scored 32 goals so far this season, although they should have scored almost 10 goals more based on the quality of their shots (41.7 xG), the highest such difference amongst sides in Serie A this term. Crotone striker Simy has found the net in each of his last six league games: the last African player to score in more consecutive appearances in the top five European Leagues was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with Borussia Dortmund in 2015 (10). Udinese midfielder Rodrigo de Paul is yet to score or deliver an assist in his four games against Crotone in Serie A TIM: he has never faced a side in more matches in the competition without being involved in at least one goal. 17/04/2021 15:00 - LUIGI FERRARIS SAMPDORIA Vs HELLAS VERONA Sampdoria have won seven of their last 10 matches against Verona in Serie A TIM (D2 L1), including the last two under Claudio Ranieri (both by 2-1 score). Verona have only won one of their 24 away games in Serie A TIM against Sampdoria - 1-0 in December 1972, courtesy of Roberto Mazzanti’s goal. Verona haven’t won any of their 12 away games in Serie A TIM played at Ferraris against Genoa and Sampdoria in the three points per win era (D3 L9); in the same period (since 1994-95), only at San Siro (19) they have played more matches on the road without ever winning a game in the competition. Sampdoria have lost seven of their last 10 league games against sides starting the day in the top half of the table (W2 D1), though one of the three times they avoided defeat was against Verona (2-1 in December 2020). Should they win, Verona would equal their highest tally of away wins in a single Serie A TIM season, achieved in 1984-85 and 2013-14 (6). Sampdoria have made 469 crosses from open play in Serie A TIM this term, more than any other side. Only 15.6% of those crosses were successful, the lowest ratio in the competition. Verona have conceded 20% (7/35) of their goals in Serie A TIM this term due to shots from outside the box, the highest such ratio in the competition. Antonio Candreva has been involved in six goals in Serie A TIM in 2021 (4 goals, 2 assists), at least two more than any other Sampdoria player in this period. Ivan Ilic of Verona (22 games) and Mikkel Damsgaard of Sampdoria (28 games) are two of the four youngest players to have played at least 20 games in Serie A TIM this term, alongside Torino’s Singo (21) and Bologna’s Vignato (25). Antonin Barak has scored seven goals so far this season (including four in 2021) - only two foreign players have scored more goals for Verona in a single top-flight season in the 21st century: Juan Iturbe (8 in 2013-14) and Adrian Mutu (12 in 2001-02). 17/04/2021 18:00 - MAPEI STADIUM SASSUOLO Vs FIORENTINA Sassuolo have won four of their 15 Serie A TIM matches against Fiorentina (D5 L6), with each of these wins coming in the second half of the season. Three of Sassuolo's last five home games against Fiorentina in Serie A TIM have ended level (one win for both sides). Sassuolo won their last league match against Benevento: the Neroverdi could win two consecutive Serie A TIM games for the first time since October 2020 (three in that case). Sassuolo have both scored and conceded goals in each of their last eight home league games, drawing four games in this period (W2 L2). Fiorentina have won only one of their last eight Serie A TIM games under Giuseppe Iachini (D3 L4) - 3-2 against Udinese in October 2020. Fiorentina have picked up five points in five away Serie A TIM matches in the second half of this season, as many as in the entire first half of the season on the road (nine games). Fiorentina have picked up only 30 points after 30 Serie A TIM matches in a season for the first time since 2001-02, when they were relegated at the end of the season (22 in that case). Sassuolo’s Giacomo Raspadori (nine) and Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic (26) are two of three strikers born after 1/1/2000 with at least five games started in Serie A TIM this season – the other being Spezia’s Piccoli (six). Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic has netted 15 goals in the current league season; in the history of Serie A TIM, only three foreign players have scored more goals in a single season before turning 22 years old - Harald Nielsen in 1962-63 (19), Ronaldo in 1997-98 (25) and Mirko Vucinic in 2004-05 (19). 17/04/2021 20:45 - SARDEGNA ARENA CAGLIARI Vs PARMA Cagliari have only lost one of their last nine Serie A TIM matches against Parma (W4 D4) - their only defeat in the period was in September 2018 (0-2), with goals from Roberto Inglese and Gervinho. Cagliari have achieved nine wins in 17 home games against Parma in Serie A TIM in the three points for a win era (since 1994-95 - D5 L3) - in this period they have won more home games only against Sampdoria (10). Cagliari have won each of their last four Serie A TIM games against sides that started the matchday in the bottom three positions in the standings, while Parma have lost three of their last four matches against such opponents (W1). Since Roberto D’Aversa's return, Parma have drawn four of their six away league matches (L2), including each of their last three - the last time they drew four away games in a row in Serie A TIM was back in January 1996. Cagliari (eight) and Parma (six, level with Benevento and Bologna) are two of the four sides that have failed to score in the most matches in Serie A TIM in 2021. Cagliari (9.3%) and Parma (9.5%) are two of the four sides with the lowest shot conversion rate in Serie A TIM this season, the othering being Udinese (9.3%) and Benevento (9.4%). Parma's last six Serie A TIM goals have been netted by six different players, with three courtesy of new signings (Mihaila, Pellè and Man). Parma are the side, among those currently in Serie A TIM, against which Cagliari’s Leonardo Pavoletti has the best mins/goal ratio, averaging one goal every 61 minutes played in the competition against them (a total of three goals in 184 minutes). Parma’s Andreas Cornelius (55, level with Llorente) and Cagliari’s Leonardo Pavoletti (48, alongside Vlahovic) are two of the four forwards that have won the most aerial duels in 2021 in Serie A TIM. Jarmin Kurtic has scored in each of his last two away matches in Serie A TIM - the last Parma player to score in more away games in a row in the top-flight was Alberto Gilardino in April 2004 (six in a row). 18/04/2021 12:30 - GIUSEPPE MEAZZA MILAN Vs GENOA AC Milan have won four of their last six league matches against Genoa (D1 L1), drawing the most recent game 2-2; the last time the Grifone avoided defeat in both Serie A TIM matches in a season against the Rossoneri was back in 2014-15 under Gian Piero Gasperini. AC Milan have failed to win four of their last seven home games against Genoa in Serie A TIM (D2 L2), losing the most recent such game (1-2 in March 2020) - only between 1930 and 1931 have the Grifone won two away matches in a row against the Rossoneri in the top-flight (their first two fixtures). Genoa are one of only two sides against which Stefano Pioli's AC Milan haven’t yet won in Serie A TIM (D1 L1) – level with Atalanta. In 2021, only Benevento, Cagliari, Parma and Torino have won fewer home matches than AC Milan in Serie A TIM (W2 D2 L4 for the Rossoneri). AC Milan have conceded 21 goals in 15 home games in the current league season; in their history in Serie A TIM only twice previously have they conceded as many goals at this point of the season in home games: 22 in 1932-33 and 27 in 1941-42.