Fresh from a week where Italian sides did much to reassert themselves on the European stage, Serie A waits for no-one and some mouth-watering clashes await.
Perhaps not one of those sees Cagliari host Udinese. The home side have scored in each of their last six top-flight games against their visitors (W4) – netting a total of 13 goals in the process. Udinese are in a tailspin and have lost eight league games in a row for the first time in their history. Surely their luck will have to change soon.
This will be the 20th meeting between Chievo and Torino in the Serie A: the Granata lead by eight wins to five, with six draws.
Chievo have picked up seven points from their last three home games – the last time they remained unbeaten in four league games in a row was in September 2016. Torino have regained some form of late and are on a run of three consecutive wins – the last time they won four in a row was in February 2015.
Genoa are quietly having a decent season by their standards and have won six points more than they had after 31 match-days last season, mainly thanks to the 20 fewer goals conceded this term (31 vs 51). Their opponents Crotone won last weekend against Bologna, and they aim to record back-to-back wins for just the second time in this campaign (they did it back in November).
In-form Inter have won five of their last seven league games against Atalanta (D1 L1), after failing to beat them in the previous six (D3 L3). For the visitors, star-man Alejandro Gomez needs another assist to equal his record of 10 made in a single Serie A campaign. El Papu scored two goals in his first four appearances against Inter, but has failed to score in each of the following nine against them.
Fiorentina lead by 14 wins to seven in the head-to-head against SPAL in the top-flight, with 12 draws so far. The away side are serious about staying up and are unbeaten in their last six fixtures, collecting 10 points – they had taken only two points from the previous seven Serie A games.
The hosts’ main threat – Giovanni Simeone, has scored in his last three domestic appearances. The last Fiorentina player to find the net in four league games in a row was Josip Ilicic between December 2015 and January 2016.
This will be the 40th meeting in Serie A between Bologna and Verona: the Rossoblu currently lead by 12 wins to 10, with 17 draws. Rodrigo Palacio has been involved in a goal in each of his last six league appearances against Verona, scoring three and providing five assists.
The relegation-battlers haven’t been involved in a draw in their last 15 league games, since a 2-2 result against SPAL back in December (W5 L10).
One of the stand-out matchups takes place at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Napoli have taken 16 out of 18 points from their last six games against AC Milan in Serie A, scoring an average of 2.7 goals per game.
The Rossoneri are unbeaten in their last six home games, but they’ve been held to a draw in each of the last two against Inter and Sassuolo. A blip or a sign of things to come? The side from Naples have dropped only three points from leading situations this term, fewer than any other side. The Partenopei have also gained 25 points from trailing situations, winning eight times and drawing once after falling behind.
The only previous meeting between Sassuolo and Benevento came in Sassuolo’s 2-1 win in the reverse fixture. Both sides have struggled for success and have collected the same number of points since the start of 2018 in Serie A (nine apiece). Three of Sassuolo’s last four goals in the league have seen Matteo Politano involved (two goals, one assist).
Another huge game takes place in Turin where Juventus will try to refocus their efforts to domestic matters. Sampdoria have beaten Juve the most times over the last seven seasons in the league: three (once in Turin).
However, Samp have won only one of their last 10 Serie A games away to Juventus, conceding an average of 2.6 goals per game in that run. Interestingly, 50% of the goals conceded by the Bianconeri this season (nine out of 18) have been from set-piece situations, the highest ratio in this campaign.
Arguably the highlight of the weekend takes us back to the scene of the stand-out midweek action. This will be the 148th Rome derby in Serie A: Roma lead by 53 wins to 37, with 57 draws. It is also the top-flight fixture with the most red cards since 1994-95 (32).
Roma talisman Edin Dzeko found the net in each of the first two derbies he played against Lazio, but failed to score in the next five, despite playing 450 minutes.
Pivitol playmaker- Luis Alberto is one of only three midfielders who has been involved in at least 20 goals this season across Europe’s big five leagues; the other two are Florian Thauvin (Marseille) and Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City).
