Italian Serie A Sunday: Will The Revitalization Of Inter Milan Continue? Can Udinese Unsettle AC Milan?

Roma, flying high on the back of three consecutive wins, including a comeback 4-2 victory over Catania midweek, kick us off with a visit to Sampdoria. The home side are slipping down the table, with their latest loss a 3-0 fall to Palermo. The Blucerchiati haven't scored a goal in over a month, and are hoping to shake off the shadow of the Antonio Cassano debacle with a win over the Romans. But how many are willing to place bets on Samp putting the brakes on Marco Borriello? They'll also need to contain Mirko Vucinic, who is likely to start after his substitute appearance midweek netted him a brace. The money's on Roma to take a win and second in the table.

Next comes the flood of eight matches. Lazio should have no trouble regaining the second spot (should Roma take it) in their home match against relegation-battling Lecce, but most neutrals will be fixed on the two Milan sides. It's AC Milan that's at the San Siro this week, hosting Udinese, who are rising rapidly up the table after a disastrous start to the season. Alexis Sanchez es en fuego and Antonio Di Natale is dangerous, but will that be sufficient to unseat the team leading the scudetto race? Milan have looked rather bleak in their last outings, needing a last-minute goal from substitute Rodney Strasser to find the win over Cagliari.

But if Milan are unwilling to play the role of deserving title winners, their rivals Inter Milan look ready to step into the breach. After spending the first half of the season looking like ghosts of their treble-winning selves under Rafael Benitez, the Nerazzurri appeared to be a changed team under Leonardo, running wild in their 3-1 defeat over Napoli on Thursday. Inter now travel to Catania, who may look unthreatening in 13th place, but have only one loss at home this season. Against Roma, the Elephants showed they're able to do more than just sit back and defend, but Inter's revitalized back line put up a nearly flawless game midweek. With the return of Samuel Eto'o from suspension, Sunday's result will likely continue to set tongues wagging about Inter's scudetto chances.

The day in Serie A wraps up with Napoli hosting Juventus, two teams that slipped midweek in their race up the table. The Old Lady had a disastrous time of it against Parma, losing Fabio Quagliarella to injury early in the match and finishing with a 4-1 loss. Quagliarella is out for the season, meaning Napoli won't have to face their former striker, although they may need to deal with his replacement, veteran Luca Toni, brought in just hours after the injury. Juventus are also without Felipe Melo, with the midfielder banned for three games after kicking Parma defender Massimo Paci in the face. While goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon's return was meant to be postponed until Juventus's Coppa Italia game, he may be called into action early, with Marco Storari having picked up a minor injury. As for Napoli, they simply need to come out of the fog that settles over the team for every big match. The partenopei have a rightful claim to second place, but they just don't seem to understand that their play this year has been based on skill, not just luck. But if they can't find a win against Juventus tomorrow, expect the team to slide away from all scudetto talk.