open menulivescore

Serie A Matchday 6: Title challengers jostle for pole position
Copy icon

James Nalton
LiveScore
Jose Mourinho will increase his popularity with Roma supporters if he can beat Lazio in Sunday’s Derby della Capitale
Jose Mourinho will increase his popularity with Roma supporters if he can beat Lazio in Sunday’s Derby della Capitale

Inter Milan face Atalanta with just five points separating the top five in Serie A in a wide-open title race.

The Milan outfit ending Juventus’ dominance last season has been good for the league — though Juve fans will disagree.

Napoli top the standings ahead of their clash with Cagliari, while the Old Lady remain stuck in the bottom half after only securing their first win against Spezia in midweek.

But things could change this weekend and we preview all the big fixtures.

Inter Milan vs Atalanta (Saturday, 5pm)

Defending champions Inter take on Champions League regulars in an intriguing tea-time clash on Saturday.

The hosts sit second at this early stage of the season and are ahead of city rivals AC Milan thanks to their strong goal difference.

Simone Inzaghi’s side have scored 18 times in their first five games, including six in the home win over Bologna.

Midfielder Nicolo Barella tops the assists charts with four, while strikers Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez both feature in the early goalscoring charts with four and three respectively.

Atalanta, meanwhile, have not quite found their goalscoring touch from last season when they scored more goals than any other team in Serie A and averaged over two strikes per game.

So far this term they’ve netted six times in five games and will be looking to turn the style back on in the coming weeks.

Midfield maestro Nicolo Barella has set up more goals than any other Serie A player this season
Midfield maestro Nicolo Barella has set up more goals than any other Serie A player this season

Saturday’s other games

Spezia vs AC Milan (2pm)

Genoa vs Verona (7.45pm)

Juventus vs Sampdoria (Sunday, 11.30am)

Massimiliano Allegri will hope Juventus can continue to put their poor start to the Serie A campaign behind them against Sampdoria.

Juve came from 2-1 down to win against Spezia on Wednesday as they avoided further embarrassment in the league.

But the omens are good for Allegri’s side. Juve have won their last four Serie A matches against Sampdoria, scoring at least twice in each fixture and conceding just once.

Forward Paulo Dybala has scored seven times against Sampdoria in his career, only netting more frequently against Udinese (9).

Sampdoria, meanwhile, head into the game on the back of a 4-0 defeat against early leaders Napoli on Thursday evening.

There have been no draws between these two sides in the previous 13 Serie A meetings, with Juventus winning 11 and Sampdoria losing on each of their last six visits to Turin.

Udinese vs Fiorentina (Sunday, 2pm)

Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic will be looking to get back on the goal trail after going without in his last two outings
Fiorentina's Dusan Vlahovic will be looking to get back on the goal trail after going without in his last two outings

Fiorentina are looking to win three consecutive away games for the first time since April 2018 and will fancy their chances with 42 wins in 90 league meetings with Udinese — twice as many as their opponents.

Central to their hopes of continuing that run will be the form of highly-rated striker ​​Dusan Vlahovic, 21. Though the Serbian has not scored in his last two games.

Udinese have only triumphed once in the last 10 meetings between these two sides, with Fiorentina winning six and drawing three.

But that victory for the Friulians did come in the most recent game, and they will be looking to turn the tide of results in this fixture in their favour.

Lazio vs Roma (Sunday, 5pm)

Former Chelsea bosses Jose Mourinho and Maurizio Sarri go head-to-head in the 155th Derby della Capitale with local bragging rights on the line.

The Rome derby has been unpredictable in recent times with each side winning their ‘home’ game last season.

No team has won both league games in this fixture in a season since Roma did the double over Lazio in the 2015-16 campaign.

Roma's defence will have to watch out for Italy's top scorer Ciro Immobile when they face Lazio this weekend
Roma's defence will have to watch out for Italy's top scorer Ciro Immobile when they face Lazio this weekend

Mourinho's men have started this season well having lost just one game, against Verona, and are just three points off the summit.

Lazio are unbeaten in the last four home Serie A derbies with their capital rivals and are without defeat in their last 15 at home.

Napoli vs Cagliari (Sunday, 7.45pm)

Napoli are the form team at the start of the season with a 100% record and will be looking to win their first six for just the second time in their history against Cagliari.

They demonstrated this with an impressive 4-0 win at Sampdoria on Thursday and sit two points ahead of the Milan sides at the top of the table.

Luciano Spalletti’s side have the joint-best defensive record in the league along with Milan, having conceded just twice so far, and have scored the second-most goals (14) behind Inter (18).

Better still, they have lost only one of their last 22 Serie A encounters with Cagliari — 1-0 at home in September 2019.

Cagliari, meanwhile, are one of only two teams without a win so far this season, the other being newly-promoted Salernitana.

With 13 goals conceded already this season, only Salernitana (14) have a worse defensive record than the Sardinians.

Sunday’s other games

Sassuolo vs Salernitana (2pm)

Empoli vs Bologna (2pm)

Monday’s game

Venezia vs Torino (7.45pm)

Tags

Serie AInterAtalantaJuventusSampdoriaUdineseFiorentinaLazioRomaSSC NapoliCagliari
LiveScore logo

LiveScore: Live Sport Updates

Footbal Scores & Sports News

App storeGoogle play