Seemingly now out of the race for the Scudetto after a 3-0 home defeat to AC Milan and knocked out of the Champions League, the ‘Bianconeri’ claimed a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over top-four contenders Napoli in the Coppa Italia in midweek. They travel to Chievo aiming to pick up the winning habit in the league again.
League Title Set To Stay In Milan
The woeful recent form of Juve has left Serie A as a two-horse race between the Milan giants Inter and AC. Jose Mourinho’s Inter side are eight points clear and on target for a fifth successive Serie A crown, although AC have a game in hand and have shown impressive form, having recorded seven wins in eight.
Bari Test For Jose Mourinho
The weekend sees the reverse fixture list to the opening day of the season with Inter, the club with the best away record in Serie A, travelling south to mid-table Bari – who themselves have an impressive home record. They have lost only once and have won six of their nine games, conceding only four goals in the process. They went down 2-1 at Fiorentina last weekend, a game in which Brazilian forward Paulo Vitor Barreto scored in his fourth consecutive league games. Inter have won six and lost two from nine away games, and go into the match on the back of a dramatic 4-3 defeat of Siena. Wesley Sneijder netted a superb free-kick in that game, his fourth out of six league goals scored this term.
Ronaldinho Back On Form
AC Milan host rock-bottom Siena, who travel to the San Siro for the second weekend in a row. They will be hoping for more luck than last time out when two late goals denied them a famous victory and what would have been Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho’s first home defeat in a league match since 2003. Milan – for whom Ronaldinho has been back in form – have won six from nine at home and have been buoyed by the 3-0 win at Juventus last weekend. The last time they won there, in 2004, they went on to win the league title. A weakened Milan also edged out Third Division Novara 2-1 in the Coppa Italia in midweek. Siena should take heart from last week’s game, and will hope former Middlesbrough striker Massimo Maccarone can maintain his scoring run, having hit two goals against Inter.
Napoli Look To Maintain Champions League Push
Fourth-placed Napoli, level on points with Juventus, host Palermo in seventh defending an impressive unbeaten home record. Signed from Liverpool, Andrea Dossena could be in line for a home debut as the Naples club look to avenge the 2-1 defeat suffered on the opening day. Defeat to Juve in midweek was their first in 14 games. The Sicily club have lost five and won only two of their nine games on the road, despite their lofty league placing – while they defeated lowly Atalanta 1-0 last time out, the same score as Napoli beat Sampdoria at the San Paolo.
In-Form Roma On The March
Roma in fifth host mid-table Genoa with Luca Toni again likely to feature. The home side are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions, and look much stronger than the woeful outfit that struggled at the start of the campaign under former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. Genoa have lost six of nine on their travels – and ‘boast’ the second worst defence in the division. Both sides won last weekend – Roma defeating Chievo 1-0, Genoa beating Catania 2-0.
The Rest Of Serie A
Other games see mid-table Cagliari host goal-shy Livorno – although both sides did win last weekend – while Sampdoria meet lowly Catania. The Genoa side are unbeaten at home, while Catania have won only once in 10 games away. Incidentally, both sides lost last weekend. Fiorentina, who have won three successive home games, meet Bologna – the visitors have not won away; lowly Atalanta, who are without a manager, host fellow strugglers Lazio. And Parma, in eighth with six wins from nine at home play Udinese – without a win on their travels, including seven defeats.
James Cleary - I am a published author with a wealth of sports writing experience, who also writes reviews for a number of different sources. I have an ...
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