Serie A action is set for another twist in the plot with Juventus versus Napoli promising to be a mouthwatering encounter.
Napoli would be eager to get one over Juventus this time around but it is not as if the other teams don’t have their own things to sort and beefs to settle. While Roma managed to expose Juventus last week, Napoli might be able to go further than that by giving the league champions a tactical lesson.
If you love good underdog stories than watch out for Benevento who are punching above their weight and are a treat to watch. However, if you want to see an implosion, the best chances of seeing that would be when Inter travel to Rome to play Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio.
Let’s have a quick look at each game taking place this weekend, bearing in mind that Genoa-Torino was postponed due to 19 Rossoblu players and staff testing positive for coronavirus earlier in the week.
Fiorentina – Sampdoria
In a Friday night appetizer of match-day three, Sampdoria took the three points at stake as they toppled La Viola 1-2 with goals from Fabio Quagliarella and Valerio Verre.
Both sides have issues to address when it comes to holding on to leads. Fiorentina led Inter twice only to end up on the wrong side of a 4-3 scoreline. Sampdoria on the other hand, ended up losing 3-2 at home to newly-promoted Benevento in a game they were actually leading 2-0.
Sassuolo – Crotone
Newly-promoted Crotone have been given the rudest of welcomes to top flight Italian football. After suffering embarrassing defeats at the hands of Milan and Genoa, the Squali would be looking to spring a surprise at the expense of Sassuolo who have managed just one clean sheet in their last 15 Serie A outings.
Udinese – Roma
Based on current form, Udinese could be embroiled in a relegation dogfight this time around. They’ve already lost their opening two games of the season and are now up against Roma who gave a really good account of themselves in a 2-2 draw against Juventus. Paulo Fonseca would be eager to register his first win of the season and hey, would it surprise us?
Atalanta – Cagliari
After putting four goals past Lazio in their second game of the season, La Dea would be eager to score more goals against a Cagliari side that has a lot of fresh faces in the squad. Diego Godin’s experience would matter a lot but would the Uruguayan be able to hold the fort against one of the most attacking teams in the Belpaese?
Parma – Verona
Fabio Liverani hasn’t done wonders for Parma and now they are in for a really tough test when they host Hellas Verona who have won both games of the season. Parma have lost seven of their nine games in the Serie A since February so the fans wouldn’t be expecting any miracles here.
Benevento – Bologna
While they might have just return to top-flight Italian football, Benevento are no slouches. Their football isn’t going to put you to sleep and they are very fearless. The 3-2 win over Sampdoria shows that the Streghe have great character. Bologna on the other hand, have defensive problems but we urge you to look out for Scottish full back Aaron Hickey who gave a good account of himself after making his debut last week.
Lazio – Inter
Simone Inzaghi would be absolutely livid with his team’s defending in the 4-1 defeat at home to Atalanta. We all know that La Dea will always press higher up the pitch and create overloads down the flanks. However, Lazio were completely out of ideas and did not play well at all.
The game against Inter will not be an easy one based on current form. Romelu Lukaku has made a habit of scoring two goals in every game while the rest of the players are also performing according to Antonio Conte’s expectations. This could be a testing season for the home side if they do not solve their glaring issues at the back.
Milan – Spezia
It took 24 penalty kicks for Milan to finally book their place in the group stages of the Europa League. Stefano Pioli seemed happy after the win but the experienced tactician would be concerned about his team’s inability to score freely in the absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ante Rebic. Daniel Maldini played as a false nine and struggled.
Spezia won their first ever Serie A game in midweek against Udinese. However, they will be without captain Claudio Terzi (red card) and goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet (injured). Watch out for Andrey Galabinov who has scored all three goals in his team’s top flight campaign so far.
Juventus – Napoli
Saving the best for the last, Juventus are set to take on Napoli in what is definitely going to be a great game between two teams that should be vying for the Scudetto. However, it needs to be mentioned that Juventus are not in great form right now – or maybe Andrea Pirlo isn’t sure about his best starting XI.
Nonetheless, Pirlo’s former teammate at Milan Rino Gattuso won’t be taking any prisoners and would be eager to see his team take the game to the reigning champions.
Napoli are the in-form team. They are playing really well, have a great plan and the right players. Gattuso has been able to get the best out of his players but the same cannot be said of Juventus at this point in time.
We don’t really mean to do predictions here but our birds tell us that Napoli have a better chance of winning this time around…