MY ACCOUNT
Juventus’ season hangs in the balance ahead of the ruling on their suspended 15-point deduction as they host Cremonese.
Elsewhere, top-four hopefuls AC Milan and Lazio face off against relegation-threatened Spezia and Lecce.
Inter Milan are also embroiled in the fight for Champions League qualification, so will be looking to improve their chances by beating Sassuolo.
Champions Napoli, meanwhile, have set their sights on a new objective of breaking the club’s record points total of 91 in their remaining four games — Monza are next up for the Partenopei.
Game of the week: Juventus vs Cremonese (Sunday, 7.45pm)
Juventus will be well aware that they will plummet from second down to seventh if their 15-point deduction is reimposed.
The Bianconeri must pick up maximum points in their final four games to give themselves the best chance of European qualification.
Max Allegri’s outfit could still reach the Champions League by winning this season’s Europa League, though, after grabbing a late equaliser in Thursday’s 1-1 semi-final first-leg draw with Sevilla.
This weekend’s opponents are a resurgent Cremonese, who sit six points from safety with four games to go and are having a real go at snatching survival from the jaws of relegation.
However, La Cremo have never beaten the Old Lady in 15 Serie A meetings (four draws, 11 defeats), losing all seven of their visits to Turin by an aggregate score of 21-3.
Dusan Vlahovic will be aiming to score in three successive Serie A games for the first time since joining Juventus.
Spezia vs AC Milan (Saturday, 5pm)
Milan will be hoping to bounce back from Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to rivals Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final — a result which only increases the importance of climbing into the top four.
Relegation-threatened Spezia will be equally desperate for victory, sitting three points from safety ahead of Matchday 35.
Their opponents’ struggles will only encourage the Rossoneri, who have not lost any of their last 17 trips to teams that started the round of matches in the bottom three (11 wins, six draws).
But Spezia can take some small encouragement from their record against Saturday’s illustrious opponents. The pair have met just six times in all competitions, with the Aquilotti claiming two wins and losing four.
Lazio vs Lecce (Friday, 7.45pm)
With their title chances definitely over, Lazio can focus on securing a Champions League qualification berth.
Next opponents Lecce are hovering above the relegation zone with their four-point cushion by no means a guarantee of safety.
Furthermore, the Biancocelesti have scored in each of their last 14 home league games against Friday’s visitors, netting 35 times in that run.
Having failed to find the net in their 2-0 defeat to AC Milan last time out, Maurizio Sarri’s men will hope to rediscover their scoring touch against Lecce.
Inter Milan vs Sassuolo (Saturday, 7.45pm)
Inter have hit form at just the right time.
Four consecutive Serie A wins have them sitting in the top four, while their 2-0 victory over city rivals AC Milan in the Champions League semi-finals has them in pole position to progress.
It would be their third final of this season having already qualified for the Coppa Italia final, where they will face Fiorentina, and beaten the Rossoneri 3-0 to claim the Supercoppa Italiana.
Sassuolo will be relying on talismanic forward Domenico Berardi to help them produce a shock result.
He is one of just two players in Europe’s top five leagues (alongside Antoine Griezmann) with more than five goals and five assists in 2023 (eight goals and six assists).
Monza vs Napoli (Sunday, 2pm)
Napoli celebrated their Scudetto with a win over Fiorentina last time out and will be aware that setting a club-record points total is well within their reach.
Victory over Monza would be a big step towards achieving that aim. Encouragingly for the Partenopei, their hosts on Sunday have lost all of their five league outings against teams starting the weekend in the top three this season.
Luciano Spalletti’s men are strong from set-pieces, scoring more times from dead-ball scenarios than any other team in Serie A (25) — but may struggle to add to that tally against the Biancorossi.
In percentage terms, Raffaele Palladino’s outfit have conceded the fewest goals from corners and free-kicks in the division (13% — 6/45).
Napoli’s high-pressing style has been a key component of their title triumph, leading the league for high turnovers (319). Monza, meanwhile, have not scored a single goal from such situations this term.
The weekend’s other games
Salernitana vs Atalanta (Saturday, 2pm)
Verona vs Torino (Sunday, 11.30am)
Fiorentina vs Udinese (Sunday, 2pm)
Bologna vs Roma (Sunday, 5pm)
Sampdoria vs Empoli (Monday, 7.45pm)
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