Saturday February 14
17:00 Lazio v Torino
19:30 Napoli v Bologna
Sunday February 15
14:00 Chievo v Catania
14:00 Genoa v Fiorentina
14:00 Cagliari v Lecce
14:00 Reggina v Palermo
14:00 Atalanta v Roma
14:00 Juventus v Sampdoria
14:00 Siena v Udinese
19:30 Internazionale v Milan
So, its Derby della Madonnina weekend as Internazionale and AC Milan face off at the San Siro with Jose Mourinho’s men leading their great rivals by 8 points with a little over half of the season played. Its been far from a procession for the Nerazzuri in recent weeks with hiccups at Atalanta and home to Cagliari and Torino but AC Milan are not faring much better, held by rock-bottom Reggina last weekend. The Rossoneri, though, have got the better of their rivals in recent derbies and this one could genuinely go either way. Javier Zanetti will be leading Inter in his 35th Milan derby, a magnificent achievement whichever team you follow. David Beckham is expected to start for the ‘visitors’ and for this reason (and, sadly, it seems this reason alone) the game is broadcast live on Sunday on BBC3. Prime the armchair, collect the beers and enjoy.
On Saturday, Lazio, who have collected just a point from their last 5 fixtures, host Torino at the Olimpico. Walter Novellino’s men are three points adrift of safety and have a severe goalscoring problem – their top scorer is Rolando Bianchi with four – and a miserable away record that reads 0 wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats. Inspite of the Biancocelesti’s poor form, this should be 3 points if they still harbour European ambitions. Later that night Napoli, in poor form themselves, host Bologna who, try as they might, cannot quite pull away from the bottom three even though Marco Di Vaio, the league’s top scorer, is doing his level best. Napoli are still a force to be reckoned with at the San Paolo (1 defeat in 11) so should pick up a much-needed win.
On Sunday, Juventus will look to capitalise on any Lombardian slip-up by beating Sampdoria at home. Rainieri’s men continue to lack conviction in their title challenge and are 7 points off the pace but are still in better form than Sampdoria who are having a miserable time. The Genovese club have picked up just 1 victory and 6 goals in 11 away games. By contrast Roma are in superb form, probably the form team in Italy having lost just once in 14 matches. They visit Atalanta, themselves in decent touch and a tough side to beat at home – as Inter and Napoli have discovered. A win for Spalletti's men could propel them to fourth position.
Two sides in the mix for the Champions league meet at the Luigi Ferraris. Genoa and Fiorentina are seperated by just a point in fifth and fourth respectively, with two of the league’s best frontmen in Gilardino and Milito leading superbly. Form would suggest a narrow Fiorentina victory but the Grifone have, rather quietly, developed an unbeaten home record that only Inter can match, so this is a very tough one to call. Any other weekend, this would be my game of the week. Elsewhere a resurgent Udinese visit Siena, Catania and Chievo, two sides who have a problem closing games out, meet in Verona and Cagliari host Lecce with the Sardinians looking to carry on their rather splendid run of form in 2009. Finally Palermo, who are 5 points away from the European spots but who have one just once in their last 9 away outings, visit the bottom side, Reggina.
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