After four league matches, Juventus and Sampdoria are perched at the top of the Serie A table with maximum points.

Whereas Juve's position did not really come as a surprise, it was Sampdoria's brilliant start that left the pundits perplexed. Irrespective of their modest pre-season ambitions, Samp are one of the most refreshing sides, playing some entertaining football we all long to see in the Italian top flight.

Season 2008-09 was full of ups and downs for Sampdoria. Frankly, it was more downs than ups.

Sampdoria did manage to reach the Coppa Italia final but they lost it to Lazio and a disappointing 13th place in the final Serie A standings urged the club owners to fire coach Walter Mazzarri.

In summer, ex-Chievo and Roma mentor Luigi del Neri left Atalanta after two years in charge and was appointed to lead a new-look Sampdoria team.

It is no secret that Sampdoria are usually very prudent and conservative when it comes to spending and this year was no exception.

Perhaps their biggest achievement was to hold on to prized asset Antonio Cassano despite several lucrative offers from bigger clubs. Cassano forms a formidable striking partnership with Giampaolo Pazzini who joined from Fiorentina last January.

Although Del Neri cannot count on a resourceful squad, he has two big pluses in his quest to do well in the Serie A.

Unlike most of their rivals, the Blucerchiati are not involved in any European club competitions this season. And, even more important, is the fact that there is absolutely less pressure on Del Neri and his players than at other teams, the likes of city rivals Genoa, Palermo, Napoli or Roma.

Del Neri has an enticing mix of experienced and up-and-coming players at his disposal, with the Cassano-Pazzini tandem the strongest department in the team.

Many have lately started to compare these two strikers with Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini - the two forwards who led Samp to their only championship in 1991.

Only time will tell if Cassano and Pazzini are of the same level even though one must point out that the Sampdoria team of the early 90s, led by the shrewd Vujadin Boskov, was a very strong outfit and comprised several quality players including goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca, Pietro Vierchwood, Attilio Lombardo and Tonino Cerezo.

This season, Samp are harbouring aspirations on Luca Castellazzi, Luciano Zauri, Marco Rossi, Daniele Gastaldello, team captain and Italy international Angelo Palombo, Daniele Mannini, Franco Semioli and Reto Ziegler.

Cassano is always in the news. Up to now, he has only scored once but has been a central figure in terms of the number of assists provided to team-mates in front of goal.

Del Neri has already coached Cassano before during a short stint with Roma in 2004/05.

In a recent interview, the wily coach outlined the huge difference there is between the inspirational Cassano of today and the unsettled rebel he used to be before.

The neutral fans will be backing Sampdoria to prolong their resistance and render the championship more interesting, breaking the domination of champions Inter and strong challengers Juventus in the process.

Del Neri has a tough job in his hands but Sampdoria only need to keep their feet to the ground and keep enjoying themselves on the field of play... the rest will unfold naturally along the season.

Serie A statistics

2 teams - Juventus and Sampdoria - have maximum points from four outings. Juve were not up to their best last weekend but still managed to beat Livorno 2-0. The latter have always finished on the losing end in their last four visits to Turin... 2-4 in January 2005, 0-3 in November 2005, 1-5 in August 2007 and 0-2 on Saturday. Sampdoria, inspired by their superstar Antonio Cassano, beat a depleted Siena side. The Tuscany side's most recent win at the Luigi Ferraris stadium was on June 2, 2002 (1-0).

2nd change of coach in the Serie A as on Monday Antonio Conte replaced Angelo Gregucci at the helm of Atalanta. On Sunday, Atalanta conceded their fourth straight defeat following a 1-4 drubbing at the hands of Bari. Apart from Atalanta, Cagliari, Livorno, Bologna and Catania are also in search of their first win of the term. On Sunday, Lazio came from a goal down to salvage a draw against Catania. This was the first positive result for the Sky Blues after similar 0-1 defeats at the Massimino Stadium in April 2008 and in March 2009.

3rd straight upset for Cagliari who on Sunday were undone by two second-half Diego Milito goals in a 1-2 defeat to Inter. The hosts deserved better though and could have added to their lead before conceding twice in a matter of minutes. Cagliari and Inter have last shared the spoils on October 1, 2006 (1-1).

4 meagre points are all Palermo have to show from their opening four fixtures. Last weekend, the Sicilians were edged by Parma for the second time in five winless visits to the Tardini stadium. In the pre-season, Palermo coach Walter Zenga had touted his side to be among the challengers for the scudetto but as things stand at the moment he would better reconsider his predictions.

6 penalties were taken last weekend. Francesco Totti broke the deadlock for Roma against Fiorentina from the spot and Neves Jeda did the same for Cagliari against Inter in the opening half. Genoa's Sergio Floccari found the back of the net from a penalty against Chievo but in the dying minutes he saw his effort from another spot-kick stopped by keeper Stefano Sorrentino. In the same match, Michele Marcolini had put Chievo in front also from a penalty. Elsewhere, Paulo Barreto could have made Bari's home win over Atalanta even more emphatic had he scored from a 52nd-minute penalty.

27 goals were scored on the fourth day. Foreign players contributed with 12 goals while there were 15 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 103. Neither own goals nor hat-tricks were registered. Three players grabbed a brace each... Diego Milito (Inter), Francesco Totti (Roma) and Marco Padalino (Sampdoria). Julio Cruz (Lazio) and Padalino were the only two players who came on as substitutes and scored. Despite not being on target last weekend, Udinese's Antonio Di Natale still leads the scorers' list with six goals.