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

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A potentially decisive weekend awaits in Italy in the race for the Scudetto with a mouthwatering showdown at the top of the table.

Here are five reasons to tune into the action.

Top-of-the-table showdown

There is absolutely no doubt as to the standout match-up this weekend in Serie A as Saturday night sees title hopefuls Napoli play host to league leaders and defending champions Inter.

Prior to kick-off, Antonio Conte's side sit just one point behind his former employers, with stuttering form of late halting the momentum that looked like landing them a fourth championship in the club's history.

But the Nerazzurri, too, have faltered recently and it is the vulnerability of both that set this one up so intriguingly and leave this one poised on a knife edge with neither side big favourites ahead of kick-off in a game that could have a huge say in determining the destination of the Scudetto.

Notably, this is the fifth time in the last 10 seasons that these sides have met on a matchday they began as the top two with three of those ending level, including the earlier clash this season, although Inter have lost just one of the last 11 meetings between the pair.

Will Milan's tinkering fail again?

There was much excitement at Milan when Sergio Conceição unveiled his 'Fantastic Four' masterplan - a way to get all of his attacking stars into the side.

The players in question are Santiago Giménez, Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leão, and João Félix, but after recent frustrations with their performances and the lack of goals that have been produced with the quartet on the park, a change was implemented.

Against Bologna on Thursday night, Conceição went without Christian Pulisic but the bold call was hardly a successful one, with the Rossoneri crumbling to a 2-1 loss despite Leão giving them a half-time lead.

Things are so bad already for the Portuguese coach that there are already concerns he'll be the second man to be dismissed this season and all eyes will be on his line-up choices as he looks to concoct some kind of reaction.

Must win for Motta

If Milan thought their midweek endeavours were bad, things were even worse for Juventus and their under-fire coach Thiago Motta.

His side somehow conspired to lose at home in the Coppa Italia to an Empoli side reaching the semi-final for the first time in their history and who made eight changes (starting three teenagers) as they put all of their focus on securing Serie A safety and despite going a goal down, still managed to eliminate the Old Lady.

Motta tore into his 'shameful' players publicly afterward, but that may not have been a wise call given that a La Gazzetta dello Sport report suggests that his curious man-management style has already confused and alienated the likes of Dušan Vlahović, Douglas Luiz, Danilo, Weston McKennie, Andrea Cambiaso, and Federico Gatti at various points this season.

"I can't stand him and I'm not the only one," one Juventus player apparently told Corriere della Sera, speaking under the condition of anonymity. "You never know what to expect, you can go from being a starter to spending 90 minutes on the bench."

All is not well in the camp. Could another negative result lead to the end?

Serie A's next big thing out for Roma scalp

A new star has risen this season in Italy's top flight with Como's teenage standout Assane Diao capturing the attention with his extremely impressive performances, which also have Spain scrambling to tie him down long-term at international level.

The 19-year-old is the youngest player to net five or more goals in Europe's top five leagues this season (scoring five for Como in addition to one with Real Betis) and is looking to become just the third player under the age of 20 to score in four straight Serie A games in the three points per win era if he can score against Roma this weekend.

The other two? Alexandre Pato (Milan) and Moise Kean (Juventus). Not bad company.

If he can help his side to an underdog win it would incredibly be just the second time in club history that they have won back-to-back Serie A away games (having won in Florence last time out) - with the only previous occasion coming in 1950!

Granted they will have their work cut out for them as only PSG and Bayern Munich have accumulated more points than the Giallorossi over the last 10 games in Europe's top five leagues.

Don't forget Atalanta

While all of the attention on Serie A this weekend is firmly focused on events at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, and you cannot argue with it, it is important to remember that there is another team in the title race.

And nobody should be sleeping on Atalanta, who no longer have any other European or Coppa Italia distractions and can focus solely on attempting to deliver the top flight title for the first time in club history.

In fact, by the time Napoli-Inter kicks off, it could be La Dea who have put themselves top of the table if they can defeat Venezia earlier in the day by two or more goals!

Given that Venezia sit 19th in the table and Atalanta have won each of their last six against them (and have averaged 2.2 scored per game in their last 10 home fixtures against them), don't bet against Napoli-Inter being a battle of second v third as the Bergamo boys continue to show they are in the title fight.

📸 GABRIEL BOUYS - AFP or licensors