Soccer

Italian Serie A 2011, Week 4 Preview And Fixtures: Napoli, Juventus Look To Prove Scudetto Credentials

All of the big teams are favorites in Serie A this week, with Napoli facing the biggest test of all of the supposed Scudetto contenders

by Kim McCauley

Sep 24, 2011, 12:19 PM UTC

Week 4 of the Serie A season is lacking in major marquee fixtures, but there are a few potentially entertaining matches on the schedule. Inter Milan, AC Milan and Roma all face teams that they'll be heavily favored to beat, which is good for them. All three are in desperate need of wins. Juventus are favored as well, while Napoli has a tough test against Fiorentina. On Sunday, Lazio-Palermo looks like an interesting fixture.

Bologna Vs. Internazionale Milano

Saturday, 12:00 pm ET

Claudio Ranieri will make his debut as Inter manager on Saturday after Gian Piero Gasperini was dismissed. He’s likely going to recall Sully Muntari and restore a four-man back line to the team, among other things. As poor as Inter have been to start the year, they should be able to beat Bologna without much of a problem.

Pick: 2-0 Inter

AC Milan Vs. Cesena

Saturday, 2:45 pm ET

Is it fair to call what's going on at Milan an 'injury crisis'? No Zlatan Ibrahimovic, no Robinho, no Alexandre Pato. Gennaro Gattuso's out as well. The good news is that Cesena aren't a great team. Solid defensively, though. Milan nick this in a generally crappy game.

Pick: 1-0 Milan

Napoli Vs. Fiorentina

Saturday, 2:45 pm ET

After their little slip-up against the Flying Donkeys of Chievo, Napoli are once again having their Scudetto credentials questioned. Fiorentina, a good team, managed to look poor last weekend against the three-man back line of Udinese, against whom they should have had a matchup advantage. Who knows.

Pick: 2-2 draw