The Derby della Madonnina is unquestionably the showpiece event as Serie A returns from the international break this weekend, with both Milanese sides hoping to continue their respective pushes for the Champions League.
We begin the fixtures in the capital where Roma are finding some form at last. They have won their last four games in all competitions – the last time that the Giallorossi won five matches in a row was in November 2017.
Their opponents’ early spark is fading fast as SPAL have lost their last four Serie A games – only once in their history have they lost five matches in a row (in 1964).
Juventus have won each of their last five league games against Genoa on home soil, without conceding a single goal – the last time the Bianconeri failed to score in a home game against the Rossoblu in Serie A was back in January 1991.
Genoa have picked up 12 points this season, but curiously sacked Davide Ballardini as manager during the October international break – the last time that they gained more in their first seven games of a top-flight campaign was in 2009/10 (13 points).
Udinese haven’t scored more than one goal in any of their last 13 Serie A home games and they have found the net only nine times in this period at the Dacia Arena.
Title-contenders Napoli have picked up six points and 11 goals fewer than they managed in the last campaign after eight games. In addition, the Partenopei have conceded twice the number of goals (10 in 2018-19, five in 2017/18).
The two fixtures between newly-promoted Frosinone and Empoli in Serie B last season witnessed 12 goals in total. Frosinone have scored just three goals this season in Serie A – the fewest league goals by any team in the top five European leagues in 2018-19 and fewer than 52 different players in these leagues.
Visitors Empoli have managed one win, two draws and five defeats so far this season; the same record that they had in their last top-flight campaign (2016/17) after the opening eight games and they were relegated at the end of that season.
Bologna have won only one of their last five home league games against Torino (D2 L2), keeping the clean sheet only once in this run. The away side have scored the highest proportion of their goals in the second half of matches so far in Serie A 2018/19 (89 per cent – eight of nine).
Only Fulham (56) and Frosinone (55) have faced more shots on target than Chievo (53) in the top five European leagues this term. Ailing Atalanta have picked up only six points so far in 2018/19; their worst start after the first eight league games since 2009/10 – a season that they were relegated in.
Parma have drawn five of their last nine home games against Lazio in Serie A (W1 L3). The visitors are another struggling to emulate their previous campaign are have picked up four points fewer from their opening eight matches this season (15) than in 2017/18 (19) and have scored 10 goals fewer (11 v 21).
The last three top-flight encounters between Fiorentina and Cagliari have produced only three goals in total, this after the previous three had seen 16 goals scored. Any goals may come from a set-piece as Cagliari have scored a league-high four headed goals in this season, with Fiorentina scoring the next most (three).
The biggest game of the weekend is undoubtedly in Milan, where five of the last eight derbies have finished in a draw (two wins for Inter, one for Milan) – this is as many draws as in their previous 33 encounters.
The last meeting between Inter and AC Milan in the league ended 0-0, but in the previous three games, both teams scored at least two goals in each.
Despite being a same-city encounter there hasn’t been a single red card shown in the last nine Serie A Milan derbies – in the previous nine there were nine given out by the referee.
Finally, Sampdoria have won their last two games in this campaign – the last time they won three in a row in the competition was back in November 2017. Visiting side Sassuolo have won three of their five matches away from home against Sampdoria in the top flight (D1 L1), scoring at least one goal in each of these games (11 goals in total: 2.2 in average per game).
