Serie A preview: Top spot up for grabs

Juventus will fancy their chances of moving clear on top of Serie A this weekend, with Antonio Conte’s men at home to lowly Novara.

Juve and Udinese are locked on 30 points apiece at the head of the league table, with only Juve’s slightly superior goal difference (+3) seeing them in front.

And with Udinese facing a tricky trip to Rome to play fourth-placed Lazio on Sunday, Conte’s men will be hopeful of a win and a slip-up from Francesco Guidolin’s team to move out on their own at the summit.

Also in Conte’s favour is the fact Udinese play a Europa League match against what is likely to be a fired-up Celtic side on Thursday, while Juve have their weeknights largely free this term by virtue of their seventh-place finish last season.

Lazio were also in action in the Europa League this week but the capital side have an extra day to recover after their 2-0 win over Sporting Lisbon in Rome on Wednesday saw them advance to the last 32.

In their last match Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma, and their cause will not be helped by the news Montenegrin striker Mirko Vucinic is out until the new year with a thigh strain.

Conte will be hoping for more good form from midfielder Claudio Marchisio and striker Alessandro Matri, who have scored six league goals each this campaign.

Third-placed AC Milan, who are level on 28 points with Lazio, are at home to Siena on Saturday but all the news coming out of San Siro seems to be on the continuing saga of Carlos Tevez and whether the unsettled Manchester City striker will be joining Massimiliano Allegri’s side in January.

Other matches on Saturday see Chievo Verona hosting Cagliari while Atalanta visit Fiorentina.

Inter Milan, meanwhile, will continue to try and recover after their woeful start to the season when they travel to Cesena on Sunday.

Claudio Ranieri’s team had a 1-0 win over Genoa on Tuesday that saw them climb to seventh place in the table, and they have now won four of their last five Serie A matches.

Napoli will host Roma at the Stadio San Paolo in desperate need of full points after drawing four out of their last five league games.

Walter Mazzarri’s men are in fifth place and have secured a spot in the last 16 of the Champions League, but they are nine points behind the frontrunners in Serie A and will be anxious to make up some ground on Lazio, who they trail by seven points.

Also on Sunday, sixth-placed Palermo visit Catania, Genoa welcome Bologna and bottom side Lecce visit Parma.