Serie A this week end- A First

godtabh

Preview

MILAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) -- Serie A's unbeaten leaders Inter Milan will expect to extend their winning streak to eight games when they take on Siena at the San Siro on Saturday while their closest challengers AS Roma are at home to Atalanta.

Inter currently lead on 33 points with Roma four points behind and Palermo a further two points behind in third place.

Defending champions Inter have enjoyed a positive November, securing a place in the last 16 of the Champions League and the quarter-finals of the Italian Cup as well as winning away to title rivals Palermo last week.

With a trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, in a game which will decide who finishes top in Group B, Inter coach Roberto Mancini may be tempted to rotate some of his players.

Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso and Brazilian striker Adriano have both recently returned to fitness and could both benefit from a good run-out against the Tuscan side.

So far Mancini has managed to keep his large, multinational squad happy by his selection decisions and club owner Massimo Moratti paid tribute to his coach after Wednesday's 4-0 Italian Cup win over Messina.

'Mancini deserves a great deal of credit because it isn't easy to manage a large group of star players like this. He has been superb and you can see he has things under his control,'said Moratti.

After making a positive start to the season Siena have lost their way a little in recent weeks picking up just five points from their last five games and coach Mario Beretta could ring the changes.

Roma will be taking nothing for granted against Atalanta at the Olympic stadium but having won their last five matches should be able to keep on the tails of Inter.

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti's injury problems have eased in recent weeks and he now has genuine competition for places throughout his team - especially in attack where Vincenzo Montella and Mirko Vucinic are both pushing for places.

On Sunday, Fiorentina host Lazio in Florence in a game which, had it not been for the points penalties imposed by a sports tribunal which investigated match fixing, could well have been a top-of-the-table encounter.

As it is though, Fiorentina are third from bottom while Lazio are seventh.

Another team punished by the tribunal, AC Milan, are also still in the bottom half of the table and will not fancy their trip to Cagliari, who have lost just twice this season.


The eyes of some of the top officials in the game will be on Udinese's home game with Reggina which the Italian Football Federation have authorised as an experiment in goal-line cameras for decisions on the ball entering the goal.

TIME HOME AWAY VENUE
17:00 UK Inter Milan v Siena Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
19:30 UK Roma v Atalanta Stadio Olimpico

Sunday, December 3, 2006
TIME HOME AWAY VENUE
14:00 UK Cagliari v AC Milan Stadio San Elia
14:00 UK Fiorentina v Lazio Stadio Artemio Franchi
14:00 UK Livorno v Chievo Verona Armando Picchi
14:00 UK Messina v Sampdoria Stadio G. Celeste
14:00 UK Parma v Palermo Stadio Ennio Tardini
14:00 UK Torino v Empoli Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
14:00 UK Udinese v Reggina Stadio Friuli
19:30 UK Ascoli v Catania Calcio Stadio Cino e Lillo del Duca

Very interesting about the goal stuff. I wonder is it a sign of things to come from the big leagues

Mr. Presentable

Probably. Serie A has long been the leader in new ideas. The message board with time remaining, the two referees test, are two that spring immediately to mind.

MrJoeSoap

nipplenuts wrote:

Probably. Serie A has long been the leader in new ideas. The message board with time remaining, the two referees test, are two that spring immediately to mind.

...that crazy tournament with the "short corners" and I think it also had the weird ice-hockye style shootouts!

godtabh

They've had a few different ones all right but I think a lot of them were just gimmicks.

I think this one could be around for a while. I wonder is it the same as what they tested at the youth world cup a while back

kinaldo

For those who missed it on Newstalk's Off the Ball tonight

- Graham Hunter, my favourite football pundit, on why the Spanish hate Italian football so much.

(and also why Barca are so desperate to become World Club Champions and how Cannavaro hasn't been that bad this season).

Slightly ot, but this is probably the most appropriate thread for this...

http://www.yousendit.com/download/QRi5MMCPz4N5TA%3D%3D

eirebhoy

Cheers, always interesting to listen to.

godtabh

Looks like its gona be a two horse race!

Roma look really up for it as they should be. They are having a brillant season so far. Its a Pity about Parlermo. I would've liked to see them push the big boys hard all the way to the end