🇮🇹 Five reasons you must watch Serie A this weekend | OneFootball

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Here are five reasons you can’t afford to miss this weekend’s Serie A action.

It's tight at the top

📸 Marco Luzzani - 2024 Getty Images

Atalanta face a trip to Parma this weekend, as their 3-0 win over league leaders Napoli has seen them rise into second place, just one point behind Antonio Conte's side.

As the league paused for the November international break, the league couldn't have been more delicately poised, with only two points separating the top six teams.

Atalanta's second-place berth is shared between them, Fiorentina, Inter and Lazio, who have all gathered 25 points in their opening 12 games, while Juventus sit just behind that group in sixth, with 24 points to their name.

Now could be the time for Gian Piero Gasperini's men to pull away from that pack, as they have won each of their last six fixtures against Parma, with the latter side having only won one of their six home games this season.

Will there be a new league leader by the end of the weekend?

Can erratic Milan overcome Juventus?

📸 PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU - AFP or licensors

It finally seemed like Milan had turned a corner after they pulled off an emphatic 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League before the international break, but they backed that win up with a disappointing 3-3 draw with Cagliari in the next league outing.

Boss Paulo Fonseca doesn't seem completely out of the woods yet, and they face a tough test against Juventus on Saturday, with the Bianconeri having kept four clean sheets in the last five away games.

Even with a hard-fought win against tough opposition this weekend, Milan would still have a lower points total than in each of their last four Serie A campaigns.

That said, any win over Juventus would be huge for the Rossoneri faithful, and would almost certainly hand Fonseca some more breathing space.

The stage is set for a thrilling encounter between two evenly-matched sides at San Siro.

Vieira reunites with Balotelli

📸 Alex Livesey - 2010 Getty Images

It's been a big week for Genoa.

First, they announced the sacking of boss Alberto Gilardino. Then, they confirmed that the Italy legend would be replaced by Patrick Vieira.

Serie A fans were surprised that Gilardino was given the boot so soon, and Vieira's appointment has thrown up a potentially awkward situation.

Mario Balotelli has been a recent addition to the side, and the striker has had a difficult history with Vieira.

They played together at Manchester City back in the 2010/11 campaign, and the Frenchman ended up being Balotelli's boss when he was in charge of Nice in 2018.

“When it comes to Mario, I want to answer back, or just slam him up against the wall, or leave him hanging by his collar on the coat rack," Vieira said.

“But I can’t, as I’m no longer a player.”

Let's hope the pair have kissed and made up by the time they face Cagliari this weekend.

The Tinkerman returns...and it's a baptism of fire

📸 FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

Roma have had a disastrous campaign so far. After replacing club legend Daniele De Rossi with Ivan Jurić in the dugout, the situation had become so dire that the only viable option was to bring back Claudio Ranieri for his third spell in charge of the club.

When you're in a deep hole, the veteran boss has the ability to turn things around and he did so in his previous spell in the capital in 2019. Only Luciano Spalletti (59%) and Rudi Garcia (57%) have a higher win percentage than Ranieri (56%) at Roma.

However, his first game is in charge is against league leaders Napoli and old foe Antonio Conte.

Ranieri has faced the Napoli boss ten times as a manager, winning just twice and losing eight of those encounters.

Perhaps even more difficult is that Napoli lost their last league game before the international break, leaving Conte with two weeks to fix any problems.

Who will come out on top in this Derby del Sole clash?

Lautaro Martínez on a hot streak

📸 Daniel Jayo - 2024 Getty Images

Inter forward Lautaro Martínez had scored in two out of his last three Serie A games before the international break, and he continued that form in some style as he met up with Argentina.

His stunning strike against Peru put him into the top five all-time goal scorers for La Albiceleste, drawing neck and neck with Diego Maradona on 32.

Martínez will be back down to earth this weekend as the Nerazzurri face Hellas Verona, but the stats look good for him in that respect.

The 5'8" marksman has fired in six goals in eight games against the Veronese side, with only Christian Vieri (seven) and Roberto Boninsenga (nine) scoring more for Inter against this opponent.

📸 ADRIAN DENNIS