Another exciting Serie A weekend is about to get started and it’s time to preview Saturday’s matches. From Fiorentina’s home meeting with basement boys Salernitana to Milan’s trip to underperforming Udinese, Saturday offers some intriguing match-ups.
Let’s have a quick look at what we can expect for today’s games in Italy’s elite competition.
Fiorentina vs Salernitana
Saturday’s Serie A action gets underway at the Stadio Artemio Franchi as Fiorentina take on rock-bottom Salernitana in what should be a straightforward task for the hosts.
Coming into this matchday, La Viola are the only side in Serie A yet to draw a league match this season, picking up nine wins from their opening 16 league games while losing the other seven.
Since falling to a 2-1 away defeat at promoted Empoli in late November, Vincenzo Italiano’s men have won back-to-back league fixtures despite conceding on each occasion.
Fiorentina are now up against another newly-promoted side as Salernitana arrive at Artemio Franchi for their first Serie A H2H in the 21st century.
Manager Stefano Colantuono, who replaced Fabrizio Castori in the dugout back in mid-October, has returned the identical haul of points from eight Serie A matches as his predecessor (W1, D1, L6).
Worryingly for the visitors, they have netted just 11 Serie A goals this season, with Fiorentina star striker Dusan Vlahovic scoring more by himself (13).
Venezia vs Juventus
Stadio Pierluigi Penzo plays host to the first Serie A meeting between Venezia and Juventus since January 2002.
Following back-to-back wins in November, the Laganuari have lost their last three league games on the trot, including a 4-3 reverse to Hellas Verona last time out.
Fears of being sucked into an early relegation battle are in full swing after Paolo Zanetti’s side fell to three defeats in their last four top-flight home matches (W1).
With 18th-placed Cagliari now just five points adrift of them, Venezia would like to inflict an upset on Juventus to pick up the pace going into the business end of the year.
However, the record-time Italian champions have won four of their last five Serie A fixtures (L1), as many wins as they had in their opening 11 in the competition (D3, L4).
Each of Juve’s four victories in that run featured a clean sheet – three of which yielded the identical 2-0 scoreline – as many shutouts as they had in their 29 games in Serie A beforehand.
Udinese vs Milan
Saturday’s Serie A programme rounds up at the Dacia Arena, where out-of-sorts Udinese lock horns with pacesetters Milan.
Having won just one of their last 13 Serie A fixtures (D6, L6), the Friulani are inching closer to the relegation zone.
Luca Gotti’s men are on course of establishing themselves as the ‘stalemate kings’ in Serie A, drawing a league joint-high seven of their 16 top-flight outings this season.
Since the start of October, Udinese have drawn six of their ten league matches (W1, L3), more stalemates than any other Italian side in that sequence.
In turn, they’ve drawn more Serie A encounters against Milan (34) than against any other team in their top-flight history, highlighting the potential for another evenly-contested affair.
Though they are not the ‘giant slayers’ by any stretch of the imagination, seven of Udinese’s 12 all-time Serie A home wins over the Rossoneri have come in their last 13 top-flight H2Hs at home (W7, D2, L4).
That alone should issue a warning to Stefano Pioli’s team not to take their hosts lightly if they are to retain a one-point lead over second-placed Inter.