Serie A schedule and preview, Week 6: The table-toppers collide in Turin

The Serie A action gets off to a pretty slow start this weekend, but it gears up to the single most important match we’re going to see during the opening half of the new season. That is, of course, Juventus’ clash with their fellow league leaders AS Roma. Both sides are so far unbeaten in domestic competition, and they’ve looked pretty much inseparable. It’s not one to be missed.

Other games to catch include AC Milan’s clash with Chievo Verona on Saturday, as Filippo Inzaghi looks to get the rossoneri back on track after a disappointing run of form. On Sunday, Udinese and Sampdoria will both hope to continue their outstanding starts to the season against Cesena and Atalanta respectively, before a big game at the Artemio Franchi sees an off-colour Fiorentina host a rather inconsistent Inter Milan.

Saturday, October 4 at 6 p.m. local / 12 p.m. ET
Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi, Verona

The round opens with Hellas Verona hosting Cagliari, and truly anything could happen. Hellas started the season well and sit seventh heading into the round, though Cagliari seem to becoming accustomed to the weird and wonderful ways of their famously bonkers coach Zdeněk Zeman -- they astonishingly won 4-1 away at Inter last weekend, in what was their first win of the season.

Saturday, October 4 at 8:45 p.m. local / 2:45 p.m. ET
San Siro, Milan

That game is followed up by AC Milan hosting struggling Chievo, in a game they really ought to win. Then again, they ought to have beaten both Empoli and Cesena in their last couple of games, and they drew them both. If momentarily disguised by their bright start to the campaign, the enormity of Milan coach Filippo Inzaghi’s task is becoming increasingly evident.

Sunday, October 5 at 12:30 p.m. local / 6:30 a.m. ET
Stadio Carlo Castellani, Empoli

Considering they’re quite possibly the poorest (in all meanings of the word) team in Serie A, Empoli have had a respectable start to the season. They narrowly lost to Roma, and scrapped to hard-fought draws against Cesena and Milan. Alas, they’re still yet to win a game. Still, this weekend looks as good a time as any to break their duck, as they host a team sat joint-bottom of the table, Palermo.

Sunday, October 5 at 3 p.m. local / 9 a.m. ET
Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Lazio made an extremely underwhelming start to the season, though things started looking up for new coach Stefano Pioli when his side put four past Palermo last weekend. They’ll look to maintain their momentum over a defensively dodgy and winless Sassuolo.

Sunday, October 5 at 3 p.m. local / 9 a.m. ET
Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma

But when it comes to dodgy defences, there’s no one in the league better (or worse) than Parma. They’ve conceded 14 times in their first five games, and have picked up just three points. They need to start turning things around, and fast. Their opponents this weekend are Genoa, who have been solid if unspectacular in their opening to the new campaign.

Sunday, October 5 at 3 p.m. local / 9 a.m. ET
Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa

Sampdoria have been one of the more impressive teams in Serie A this season, and are still unbeaten after five matches. They will fancy their chances of making it six against an Atalanta side who’ve not won in their last three games, and who could well find themselves in a relegation battle come the end of the season.

Sunday, October 5 at 3 p.m. local / 9 a.m. ET
Stadio Friuli, Udine

Even more impressive than Sampdoria have been Udinese, who head into the round just three points adrift of table-toppers Juventus and Roma. You’d be brave to bet against them recording their fifth victory of the season against a newly-promoted Cesena side that hasn’t won a game since they downed Parma on the opening matchday.

Sunday, October 5 at 6 p.m. local / 12 p.m. ET
Juventus Stadium, Turin

Here we are. The big one. The pick of the bunch. The crème de la crème. Juventus and Roma have both made perfect starts to the new season, and are once again neck and neck at this early stage. This game could well prove to be crucial in determining the eventual scudetto winner. In short, it’s as unmissable a game as we’ll get in the league this season. Unfortunately for Roma, they’ve not won away at Juve in almost five years. And that was when Amauri played for Juve ...

Sunday, October 5 at 8:45 p.m. local / 2:45 p.m. ET
Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence

You should probably choose to continue your Sunday Serie A viewing marathon by tuning into Fiorentina’s intriguing match-up with Inter. Fior have made a worryingly slow start to the season, having won just one of their opening five games. In contrast, Inter have been a mixed bag, having amassed eight points to date. You never know quite which Inter will turn up, and the viola will be praying it’s the one that was smashed by Cagliari last weekend, rather than the one that hammered Sassuolo 7-0.

Sunday, October 5 at 8:45 p.m. local / 2:45 p.m. ET
Stadio San Paolo, Naples

Napoli coach Rafael Benítez eased the pressure on his shoulders with a narrow win away at Sassuolo last weekend. However, that will all be undone if he fails to mastermind a victory over a Torino side that lost its two best players over the summer.