Serie A Preview: Juve host Lazio, Napoli visit Chievo

Reigning Serie A champions Juventus face their first home game of the season in a potentially tricky encounter with Lazio on Saturday.

The fixture is a repeat of the Supercoppa Italia meeting between the sides earlier this month, which Antonio Conte’s side won 4-0.

The Turin club began their quest for a third successive Serie A title with a 1-0 success over Sampdoria thanks to a second-half strike from new signing Carlos Tevez last week and will look to build on that against Vladimir Petkovic’s men.

But they will be wary of Lazio’s confident 2-1 performance against Udinese in their season opener.

Juventus will be without midfielder Claudio Marchisio (knee), while winger Simeone Pepe is stepping up his comeback after a series of hamstring injuries have kept him out of first-team action since Juventus’ fixture against Lazio in November last year.

The 29-year-old said he is hopeful of featuring soon, and in the meantime warned his team-mates not to take Lazio lightly.

“I feel good and everything’s going well at present,” he told the club’s official website. “We’ll keep assessing my condition with the backroom staff on a daily basis, but I’m training well and that’s the most important thing.

“The team put on a perfect performance in the Super Cup and when they play like that it’s tough for the others. However, last year’s games against Lazio were difficult encounters and our opponents will also have the bit between their teeth, so we must remain alert.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Rafael Benitez will look to build on his perfect start as Napoli manager when his side travel to the Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi to face Chievo.

The Naples outfit ran out 3-0 winners over Bologna through a double from Marek Hamsik and one from new signing Jose Callejon.

Milan completed a 4-1 aggregate victory over PSV Eindhoven to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stages in midweek, and they are looking for a swift response to their disappointing 2-1 loss away to Serie A new-boys Verona on the opening day when they welcome Cagliari to San Siro on Sunday.

Other fixtures see Atalanta and Bologna welcome Torino and Sampdoria, while Livorno and Parma are on their travels to Sassuolo and Udinese respectively.

Walter Mazzarri’s stint as Inter manager began with a 2-0 win over Genoa, with late strikes coming from Yuto Nagatomo and Rodrigo Palacio.

And the former Napoli boss will look to continue his winning start when his new side face-off against Catania at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.

Also on Sunday, Roma play host to Verona at the Stadio Olimpico, while Fiorentina face a difficult away fixture at Genoa.