Serie A: Three BIG Matches This Week

In week 2 of the Italian League, three main match-ups are on the trot. SSC Napoli will host ACF Fiorentina at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples. Both teams are coming off impressive victories in week 1 where the Azzurri annihilated US Città di Palermo at the Renzo Barbera stadium in Sicily, 3-0, while the Viola completed a 2-1 come-from-behind win against Udinese in Florence with a brace from Stevan Jovetic. This encounter should be an exciting fixture as both teams have improved their line-ups considerably. Napoli has the upper hand in the offence with the almighty Edison Cavani continuing to prove that he is a legitimate centre forward. I believe Cavani and Hamsik will cause havoc for the Fiorentina defence. That said, I also have to point out that Napoli has several key injuries, especially in midfield. The Viola have beefed up the midfield with the acquisition of Alberto Aquilani who was a second half substitute last week. Stevan Jovetic will most certainly be the go-to man in the midfield. Prediction: Seeing that it is the Azzurri’s home opener, it is difficult to visualize Napoli losing this game.

The second very important fixture will be Lazio taking on Palermo at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome. Lazio has had a very negative preseason losing pretty much all of their summer warm-ups. They were able to turn it around last weekend and won the one that counted the most against Atalanta Calcio. The Biancocelesti will be trying to win their fan support back with a strong performance, and with the likes of Miroslav Klose, Stefano Mauri, and ‘the prophet’ Hernanes it might just happen. The Sicilians were absolutely disgusting in week 1 as they received a pounding at home against Napoli. This will most likely be a long season for the Rosanero faithful. Palermo will go as far as Fabrizio Miccoli can carry them. I choose Lazio for the easy win at home.

Finally, probably the most intriguing match to watch will see Internazionale FC do battle with AS Roma at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan. Inter looked incredible in week one winning an easy game against newly-promoted Pescara Calcio, thrashing the Abbruzzese club 3-0. Roma tied in week one but if old coach Luiz Enrique was still at the helm, they probably would have lost. The Nerazzurri might be too strong for the Giallorossi to handle even though the Romans have made some key buys this year namely centre forward Mattia Destro, Brazilian Marquinho, Greek talent Tachtsidis, and left back Federico Balzaretti who had a superb EURO 2012 tournament. However, centre midfielder Michael Bradley is unavailable due to injury. The Roma defence will have trouble stopping the likes of Antonio Cassano, Wesley Sneijder, and Diego Milito, and there will even more problems if Rodrigo Palacio is back from injury. I do not see many teams stopping Inter’s attack this year in the Serie A. With the return of Zdenek Zeman as head coach, AS Roma will not sit back and defend. The bohemian tactician, as he is called in Italy, is attack-minded and will command his troops to pour forward to attack Inter which may leave Roma’s defence vulnerable to counterattacks. Osvaldo, De Rossi and Totti will lead the frontline with Erik Lamela fighting for the balls in the middle of the park. This game is expected to be wide open. My pick is Inter seeing that they are too strong for the Giallorossi. If the game is played in an open style, I expect to see many goals.

Other week 2 fixtures: Bologna v AC Milan
Cagliari-Atalanta
Catania-Genoa
Parma v Chievo Verona
Sampdoria v Siena
Torino v Pescara
Udinese v Juventus

Serie A Standings