Another week has come and gone, and hopes for most tifosi have returned with the upcoming fixtures for this weekend's round of Serie A football. Some sides had the luck (or misfortune) of playing inter-continental matches midweek, and interesting enough 4 of the 5 sides who had matches are pitted against each other, in Juventus - Milan and Lazio - Fiorentina. Napoli are the fifth side. While Europe wasn't so kind to the 5 as Fiorentina won, Juve, Milan, and Lazio all tied, and Napoli drew, most can expect better this weekend. So, without further adieu, off to the matches!
Your Saturday begins with Chievo - Atalanta, in what should be an interesting match. Atalanta are fresh off a 2-0 victory over Udinese, and have enjoyed a rough overall start to the season, if also slightly unlucky. They had two tough losses to fully healthy Napoli and Fiorentina, along with clean sheet victories over aforementioned Udinese and Torino. German Denis has hit midseason form already (probably because we are six weeks in) having grabbed 3 goals and an assist to date, while Guglielmo Stendardo has been a rock at the back. Chievo are currently sitting on 4 points, and two consecutive losses with their only victory over Udinese as well. Alberto Paloschi is doing all he can for the flying donkey's, but week in, week out, it rarely seems to be enough. Manage Giuseppe Sannino has called for his team to respond this week and they need to. They will have a tough time scoring against a stout Atalanta defense however, especially considering they have mustered only 5 goals themselves, and have been shut out 3 times thus far.
The weekends biggest match, Inter versus top of the table, and perfect through 6 matches Roma, is previewed by Jack Gallagher over here, and should be excellent viewing.
Parma and Sassuolo kick off the Sunday slate of fixtures, and while on paper it looks as if Parma should walk away with this one, especially given the Ennio Tardini is such a tough place for opponents to visit, Sassuolo have been surprisingly feisty of late, taking a point each from Napoli and Lazio. There have been rumblings on twitter of Sassuolo getting their first victory of the young season; that, in my opinion, is a bit far reaching, but getting away with a point may not be. Young striker Simone Zaza has been in form recently and leads the side with two goals, however they are still missing Francesco Acerbi and Luca Marrone to injury. Parma on the other hand have been in great form, collecting 5 of their 6 points over the last 3 matches with draws against Catania and Fiorentina and a victory over Atalanta. Antonio Cassano and Jonathon Biabiany have both been superb recently, and this will need to continue as Amauri misses this one through suspension.
Napoli will look to bounce back against Livorno, and oh how I'm glad I don't support either team. The Azzurri are reeling from a 2-0 setback against Arsenal in the Champions League, and will be looking to take revenge on Livorno, who currently sit in tenth place. Livorno recently saw their 4 match unbeaten run end with a loss to fellow promotee Hellas Verona, and will be looking to salvage something from their trip to the Stadio San Paolo. A lot hinges on Rafa Benitez and the mental state his side are in, as a motivated Napoli could wreck havoc on Livorno, while a depressed one could fall victim to a surprisingly competitive Livorno side. Duvan Zapata looks set to make only his second start for Napoli, as Gonzalo Higuain is still out injured. Both Raul Albiol and Christian Maggio are also unfit to play.
Bologna take on Hellas Verona, who to the surprise of many currently sit in 7th with 10 points. Whether or not that trend continues is a story unto itself however, as they have collected just 1 of a possible 9 points on the road thus far this season. Bologna have fared no better, collecting only 3 points total, although to give them credit they have had an incredibly tough slate of matches so far. Diamanti looks to be the difference maker in this one, as Verona have struggled against long shots and chance creation thus far; both areas Diamanti excels in. For Hellas it will be Jorginho as usual trying to dictate play from the midfield, which, if he can do, should go a long way to helping them return to Verona with points.
Udinese have not been themselves thus far this season, and it has absolutely been a tale of home - away for the bianconeri, as they have collected all 7 points thus far at home. Cagliari suffered through a tough 1-1 draw with Inter last weekend in less than stellar pitch conditions, and will be looking to continue their form against the friulani. This match is up for grabs really, as home field advantage will be working for Di Natale, Muriel, and co., but Radja Nainggolan's side have the talent to take something from the match.
Torino has been impressive thus far this season, earning a point against Milan and arguably deserving a point against Juve. Alessio Cerci has been a revelation thus far in the striker role, and Ciro Immobile has performed well alongside him. Sampdoria on the other hand have massively underperformed for the level of talent in the squad, having mustered just 4 goals and 2 points over 6 matches. Still, the talent is there, and all it will take is a waking up for the side to make a run up the table. That being said, after last weekend's fixture I expect an inspired Toro side to take the 3 points here.
Catania have shocked many this season with how poorly they have started, as they just last week recorded their first victory. Genoa have surprised nobody as they have yet again become the standard bearer for perennial underperformers. Many thought that when Francesco Lodi and Giovanni Marchese defected from Catania to Il Grifone, they would help create a higher standard for the side. While Lodi has been the side's top performer to date according to whoscored.com, this isn't saying too much. The two sides have scored just 8 goals combined this season, and we could very well be in for another snooze fest.
There are to be two late matches on Sunday, which isn't exactly a good thing for viewers as both matches look promising. Juventus welcome Milan to Turin on the back of both sides Champions League draws; Jack Gallagher goes into greater detail over here. Lazio scraped a 3-3 draw in their Europa league fixture against Trabsponzor after falling behind 1-3, and welcome Fiorentina to the capital which Daniel Andrews previews over here.
All in all in it looks to be an exciting round of fixtures in week 7, make sure you check back with Vavel periodically for scores, and a live commentary of the Roma - Inter match Saturday night! Enjoy your weekend!