Serie A preview: Battle for Scudetto heats up

The top sides in Serie A will fancy their chances of victory this weekend, with the top three each tackling teams well below them in the table.

Champions Juventus, fresh from securing their place in the last eight of the Champions League at the expense of Scottish club Celtic, host eighth-placed Catania.

Catania are in reasonable touch at the moment – winning two of their past three matches before going down 3-2 to Inter Milan in a thriller last weekend.

Juventus, meanwhile, have taken only four points from a possible nine in their past three matches, probably the worst run of form for Antonio Conte’s side this season.

Second-placed Napoli, who are six points behind Juve, visit 16th-placed Chievo on Sunday, while on Friday Milan, who are in third place and 11 points behind Juventus, visit 17th-placed Genoa.

Milan are unbeaten in nine Serie A matches, and during that time posted a 2-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League to make them the form team of Serie A at the moment.

On Saturday, Roma try and continue their three-match winning run under new coach Aurelio Andreazzoli when they visit Udinese, and Atalanta host second-bottom Pescara in the day’s other game.

Fourth meets sixth on Sunday when Vladimir Petkovic’s Lazio entertain Fiorentina, with the Rome-based club keen to bounce back from their 3-0 thumping from Milan in their last league game.

Inter Milan are level with Lazio on 47 points, one behind Milan, and they welcome 11th-placed Bologna to San Siro, while Sampdoria visit Cagliari.

Other Sunday matches see Siena visit Palermo, with both teams desperate to escape the relegation zone, and Torino journey to Parma.