Serie A: Road to the Scudetto Week 6

Three sides continue to remain undefeated so far this season: Juventus , Napoli, and surprisingly Sampdoria! Let’s start off in Milano where Inter is home to Fiorentina. The Nerazzurri haven’t won a game at home this season and are looking to stop their home winless streak. They will have to do it without lead man Wesley Sneijder who picked up an injury in the midweek clash against Chievo. It shouldn’t be too difficult to replace him with players like Antonio Cassano and Radrigo Palacio on the bench. Inter will have a hard time taking control of the midfield against Fiorentina. The Viola are coming off a tie against Juventus in which they were unlucky to not obtain the three points as they out played the reigning champs and deserved the win. Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella is expecting his team to take the game to Inter, and with players like Jovetic, Aquilaini, Ljajic, Pasqual and Pizzaro, Fiorentina can certainly at least dream about victory especially against the aging Inter midfielders namely Zanetti and Cambiasso. This game will most likely end in a tie, thus leaving the Inter home winless streak to continue.

Juventus will battle it out against AS Roma at the Juventus Stadium in Torino. Juve are coming off a very sloppy performance against Fiorentina in midweek as being involved in three competitions begins to takes its toll on the Bianconeri. Prime example: since when is Pirlo ever substituted during a game in progress? The Old Lady’s magician is looking ever more tired these days. Head coach Antonio Conte will aim to put an end to that type of play right away and will most likely rotate the squad ahead against the Giallorossi in order to best prepare for the Champions League encounter Tuesday when Shaktar Donetsk comes to town. Roma has been a little inconsistent lately but are ready turn things around quickly. This game should be a great one seeing that both teams very much dislike each other. Roma coach Zdenek Zeman absolutely loves stirring the pot with his anti-Juve comments made during press conferences, accusing them in the past for doping and match fixing. I believe this game will be played wide open with both teams aiming to attack one another. Juve has the edge in the mid with Vidal, Pirlo (who may be replaced with youngster Pogba), Marchisio and the surprising Giaccherini. Roma’s attack though should not be taken lightly with ‘il re di Roma’ Totti, and the two young Italian internationals Destro and Osvaldo. Although, the Giallorossi have a decent attacking line-up, Juventus possess perhaps the strongest midfield and defence which is where Championship-winning teams are built from.

Parma will challenge AC Milan at the Stadio Tardini in Parma. These two teams have struggled up to now with the Gialloblu coming off a draw against Genoa. Parma forward Amauri enjoys playing against Milan where the Brazilian-born forward bagged a late winner last year at the San Siro that shattered the Rossoneri’s scudetto chances. This time around, of course, he is looking to do just the same against a weaker Milan side. The Diavoli travel to the Tardini with a bit of confidence after beating Cagliari at home, 2-0, which broke the San Siro curse for the Rossoneri. Milan forward Stephan El Sharaawy seems to be the only player in form so far this year. With the return of Robinho, Max Allegri is hoping Milan can finally turn their season around. Even though Milan have struggled so far, the Milanisti are still stronger than Parma and having Robinho back will surely help to spark up the team.

A battle will take place at the Marassi stadium and it is not the derby. Instead, undefeated Sampdoria will go to war with Napoli who’s trying to keep pace with Juventus for top spot. This game will be played wide open as both teams will play for three points. Napoli possesses a killer attack with trio Hamsik, Pandev, and three-goal hero Cavani, the man who absolutely crushed Lazio single-handed on Wednesday. Take out Cavani and why not put in Insigne. The Italian international has been on fire of late. Head coach Walter Mazzarri’s midfield is jam-packed with Chilean youngster Edu Vargas and Gokhan Inler who make up a formidable pair. Samp will have certainly have trouble competing with this line up, but they have been playing very well under former Under-21 Italy coach Ciro Ferrara. Maxi Lopez aims to be in great form. Even Pozzi and Lopez have been linking up great up to now. But with Pozzi getting injured in mid week, who will be the one to lend Maxi Lopez a helping hand in the attack? Although the game is in Genova, Napoli will most likely remain undefeated as the Partenopei’s depth will too much for Sampdoria.