👀 Strikers with a point to prove: 🐔 Belotti, Vlahovic and more

It's a Serie A championship full of strikers looking for redemption: from Belotti to Vlahovic, including those returning from injury and those needing to reestablish themselves in our league.

Let's take a look at which strikers might find their smile again in this Serie A championship.

🐔 Belotti: Will the Rooster sing again?

One striker who is certainly rejoicing these days is Andrea Belotti: after several disappointing experiences, including a stint at Como with a loan to Benfica, the Rooster celebrated a magical evening by scoring in Cagliari's comeback against Lecce.

It had been since June 2024 that Belotti hadn't scored a brace: after scoring 100 goals in the league with the granata jersey, the Rooster hadn't sung more than three times (counting only the league) with the jerseys of Roma, Fiorentina, Como, and Benfica.

Perhaps Sardinia can truly be the place where the Bergamasque striker can get back in the game, without the pressures of a top club and with minutes and responsibilities to shoulder.

🇷🇸 Can Vlahović reclaim Juventus?

When discussing Juventus's problems in recent years, Dušan Vlahović is always a topic of conversation.

The Serbian has never fully convinced in the black and white jersey, yet he has been ready in several critical moments, despite always being questioned and highlighting with his celebrations a polemical streak towards an environment that continued to criticize him.

Consistently in double figures every season in the black and white jersey, he has had to endure more competition with names meant to bench him definitively: last year it was Kolo Muani, this year Jonathan David.

Yet the man Juventus under Tudor has leaned on at the start of this championship has been the Serbian: two goals scored and a game decided coming off the bench, while paradoxically he didn't score when he started in a goal-filled match against Inter.

A new role as a "supersub" of reliable dependability?

👀 Giménez and Dovbyk, should I stay or should I go?

They were the midfielders at the center of a rumored market swap between Milan and Roma: Bebote Santiago Giménez and Artem Dovbyk both found themselves on the fringes of their respective teams.

The Mexican was on his way out of Milan, with the sword of Damocles of many character problems hanging over him. Now he finds himself with a rather precarious starting position, threatened by Nkunku and Pulisic.

Allegri talks about the need to regain serenity, but it's certain that Gimenez hasn't yet put his name on the scoresheet, though he's hit the post three times and had two goals disallowed for millimetric offside: will he just need to break the ice?

The situation is different for Artem Dovbyk: the Ukrainian has been constantly criticized, despite scoring 17 times between league and cups in his first Italian season amidst Roma's technical chaos last year.

If his name was already rumored for an exit that never materialized, partly due to the competition from Evan Ferguson for the starting spot, Dovbyk seems at risk of being dropped by Gasperini, who harshly criticized his attitude after benching him in the defeat against Torino.

🤕 Scamacca and Zapata, getting back on their feet

Then there are two strikers who want to reclaim central positions in their respective teams (which, incidentally, will face each other in this round of the championship) after missing almost all of last season due to their respective injuries.

On one side is Gianluca Scamacca: last season he played just 5 minutes against Torino between a cruciate ligament injury and a tendon injury, watching from the stands as Mateo Retegui scored goals for his Atalanta, becoming the top scorer of that championship.

This year Scamacca has found the goal in Serie A that he hadn't scored since May 2024 and is determined to reclaim the Dea, despite ongoing physical troubles.

A similar story for Duván Zapata, sidelined by a cruciate injury last October: with the captain's armband for Torino, the Colombian was trying to carry the granata team on his shoulders, scoring 3 goals in 7 matches.

This year he hasn't been seen on the field yet, except for two minutes against Modena in the Coppa Italia, and surely there's a Simeone aiming to keep him on the bench. But who knows, he might return to scoring goals as he always has.

😣 Morata's disappointments

It was one of the most sensational transfers of the summer, the one that brought Álvaro Morata to the lakeside wearing the Como jersey.

The Spaniard, after his second stint with Juventus and two excellent seasons at Atlético Madrid, had an inconsistent season split between Milan and Galatasaray jerseys.

Fabregas's call represents an important opportunity for him to relaunch, under the orders of a fellow countryman coach who holds great esteem for him and with whom he shared the Chelsea and Spain jerseys.

So far, however, Morata hasn't managed to make an impact, missing several good chances in the match against Genoa, and there's an Anastasios Douvikas ready to provide strong competition for the starting spot.

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