Goals aplenty on the menu for Inter-Juventus

Football purists will be hoping for a goal glut when champions Inter host Juventus in the plum tie of the weekend in Serie A.

Both sides have already smashed in four goals twice this season, most recently when Inter thumped Werder Bremen 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.

What’s more, Juve have the best attack in Serie A with 12 goals in five games but also have the joint worst defence alongside Roma and Udinese, having leaked nine.

Inter have hit four goals in two of their last three matches and it all points to the potential for an entertaining encounter tomorrow night. However, it is difficult to see the visitors emerging victorious.

Champions Inter are top of Serie A with 10 points, ahead of Lazio on goal difference while Juve are three points back in mid-table.

Although Inter have not always impressed this season, they did grind out crucial 2-1 victories against Udinese and Palermo before hammering Bari 4-0.

Their only real blip was the 1-0 defeat at Roma last time out courtesy of Mirko Vucinic’s injury-time winner. But even without forwards Diego Milito and Goran Pandev and captain Javier Zanetti, they were highly impressive on Wednesday in Europe.

Juve, on the other hand, have been wildly inconsistent this campaign but it has made for entertaining viewing.

They have twice drawn 3-3 at home against Sampdoria and then in the Europa League against minnows Lech Poznan.

They were well beaten when going down 1-0 at Bari and 3-1 at home to Palermo but have showed glimpses of their potential when winning 4-0 at Udinese and 4-2 at home to Cagliari before a 1-1 draw at Manchester City in the Europa League on Thursday.

The problem for Juve is that they have never looked secure at the back and if there is one team likely to exploit that, it is Inter.

Inter’s players are confident with midfielder Esteban Cambiasso insisting that Wednesday’s win over Werder had changed nothing for them.

“I don’t think it changes anything, we already knew before the game that we were top of the league,” he said.

“In the changing room we’re always calm but you can never control what others are saying.”

There is an unlikely top-of-the-table clash this weekend in Rome where Lazio entertain newly-promoted Brescia, with either team capable of heading the table with victory.

Brescia have been a breath of fresh air and could already have been top but for last week’s 2-1 defeat at Bari. Lazio’s rise is perhaps no less surprising given their financial difficulties.

Another team that could be sitting pretty atop the league at the end of the weekend is Chievo who host Cagliari. However, the Flying Donkeys have had two other opportunities to top the league only to lose home games.

Milan are yet another team capable of going top for a day at least as they travel to Parma tonight, but the rossoneri have been far from convincing since their opening day 4-0 win over Lecce.

In fact, their only other victory came against Genoa last week when a spectacular Zlatan Ibrahimovic lob saw them scrape home with a 1-0 success.

Having got their first win of the season against Inter last week, Roma face a tough trip to Napoli as they look to climb out of the bottom three and start to make an impression on the title race.

Although lying 18th they are only five points off the top.

Fixtures

Serie A

Playing Today
Udinese vs Cesena 18.00
Parma vs Milan 20.45

Tomorrow – 15.00
Bologna vs Sampdoria
Chievo vs Cagliari
Fiorentina vs Palermo
Genoa vs Bari
Inter vs Juventus 20.45
Lazio vs Brescia
Lecce vs Catania 12.30
Napoli vs Roma

Standings: Inter, Lazio 10; Chievo, Brescia 9; Milan, Napoli, Catania, Bari 8; Juventus, Cesena 7; Cagliari, Sampdoria, Bologna 6; Palermo, Fiorentina, Parma, Genoa, Roma, Lecce 5; Udinese 1.

Serie B

Played yesterday
Ascoli vs Livorno1-5

Today – 15.00
AlbinoLeffe vs Pescara
Cittadella vs Empoli
Grosseto vs Frosinone
Piacenza vs Padova
Reggina vs Vicenza
Sassuolo vs Atalanta
Siena vs Modena
Torino vs Portogruaro
Triestina vs Crotone

Monday – 20.45
Varese vs Novara

Leading standings: Siena 14; Novara 13; Crotone, Empoli, Vicenza, Portogruaro 10; Padova, Ascoli, Atalanta, Frosinone, Livorno 9.