Check out our end-of-week training ground round-up as the Serie A teams prepare for the next set of fixtures.
Atalanta: Coach Colantuono is sweating on the fitness of Gianpaolo Bellini as he prepares his side to face Lazio. However almost certain to return to the starting XI will be Thomas Manfredini, Ezequiel Schelotto, Carlos Carmona and Maxi Moralez.
Bologna: News at the Dall’Ara is dominated by Marco Di Vaio’s decision to leave for the USA come the end of the season. The club play Napoli on Sunday and there is a doubt over Robert Acquafresca. The team will definitely be without in-form attacker Gaston Ramirez, who is suspended.
Cagliari: All eyes will be on the Sardinians and the encounter with league leaders Juventus. Daniele Dessena or Albin Ekdal will play on the right side of the central midfield as coach Ficcadenti juggles his side. Lorenzo Ariaudo is still suffering from a knock and is a doubt.
Catania: Vincenzo Montella returns to Roma for the first time since taking over at Catania. Defender Nicolas Spolli is suspended and will miss the tie. Davide Lanzafame is expected to form the trident attack with Pablo Barrientos dropping to the bench.
Cesena: A basement club encounter with Novara will see coach Beretta probably deploy a 3-4-1-2 formation. Vincenzo Iaquinta is again injured and will miss out but Nicola Ravaglia should get the gloves with experienced Francesco Antonioli as backup taking his place amongst the subs.
Chievo: The Flying Donkeys travel to Palermo and should have the fit again Rinaldo Cruzado back in the side. Boukary Drame and Cyril Thereau will not be passed fit and so will sit this one out.
Fiorentina: New Viola coach Guerini will have to prepare without Stevan Jovetic as he battles to keep his team in Serie A against fellow strugglers Lecce. With Adem Ljajic now suspended after his fight with former coach Delio Rossi, the side may opt for Alessio Cerci and Ruben Olivera as the front two.
Genoa: The Rossoblu continue their battle to remain in the topflight with a tricky visit to Udinese. Coach De Canio is still undecided whether to use three or four defenders though reports now point towards the latter. Kakha Kaladze is not expected to be fit and so Roger De Carvalho will step in and Emiliano Moretti will play at left-back.
Inter: Dejan Stankovic will miss the last two games of the season with a problem to his Achilles tendon. Against city rivals AC Milan, Esteban Cambiasso may play just in front of the defence flanked by Javier Zanetti and Freddy Guarin. In attack Mauro Zarate will partner Diego Milito.
Juventus: Huge pressure on Antonio Conte as his side travel to face Cagliari. Simone Pepe is improving but may only be well enough for a spot on the bench. If he does make it, expect the Bianconeri to revert to a 4-3-3 with the Italian international joined in attack by Mirko Vucinic and Marco Borriello. If not, the side will line up in a 3-5-2 as in previous weeks with Emanuele Giaccherini wide on the left.
Lazio: Some good news for the Laziale as they prepare to play Atalanta. Miroslav Klose should be amongst the substitutes as he makes his comeback from injury. Senad Lulic should definitely start in midfield. Up front, Libor Kozak will have Stefano Mauri and Antonio Candreva playing just behind him.
Lecce: Serse Cosmi faces Fiorentina with his star Columbians both banned. Luis Muriel and Juan Cuadrado will both miss the game as will Moris Carrozzieri, all for indiscipline. David Di Michele is expected to play alone in attack with Andrea Bertolacci supporting him from midfield. Massimo Oddo has been omitted completely from the squad for technical reasons.
AC Milan: The Rossoneri will not have Thiago Silva when they play Inter on Sunday evening with Mario Yepes or Daniele Bonera stepping up to replace him. Both Luca Antonini and Antonio Nocerino limped out of training but they are expected to recover in time for the match. Robinho will partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic in attack.
Napoli: Hugo Campagnaro has not fully recovered and will probably miss this weekend’s match with Bologna. Miguel Britos is expected to play at the back though Gianluca Grava is also in the running for that final defensive shirt.
Novara: Coach Tesser has two issues to sort during final preparations before he can decide his starting XI that confronts Cesena. Andrea Caracciolo will either play alongside Jeda or Giuseppe Mascara though the Brazilian is the favourite. The trequartista role will be filled by Marco Rigoni, Daniel Jensen or Andrea Mazzarani.
Palermo: Federico Balzaretti should be back available to Bortolo Mutti though the left back will probably start from the bench. Also, Abel Hernandez and Nicolas Bertolo will be at the coach’s disposition when the face Chievo at the weekend.
Parma: Roberto Donadoni will have Sergio Floccari back in the squad though Stefano Okaka is expected to start ahead of the ex-Lazio forward alongside Sebastian Giovinco. Jonathan Biabiany and Brazilian Jonathan are both hoping to get the nod for the spot wide on the right of midfield.
Roma: The Giallorossi will have Erik Lamela and Pablo Osvaldo back from suspension. Bogdan Lobont is fit again and may play ahead of Gianluca Curci in goal. Francesco Totti will play the trequartista role with the midfield trio made up of Marquinho, Fernando Gago and Daniele De Rossi.
Siena: Coach Sannino will revert to a back three as his team host Parma on Sunday afternoon. Claudio Terzi returns to the squad but there are doubts over Luigi Giorgi and Pablo Gonzalez. Mattia Destro will be partnered by Marcelo Larrondo in attack.
Udinese: The Bianconeri will only have Mauricio Isla missing from their squad as they prepare for the home tie with Genoa. Pablo Armero is expected to be back in the starting line-up after having been rested for the game with Cesena and Gabriel Torje could replace Diego Fabbrini as the support forward playing just behind Antonio Di Natale.
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