Serie A leader Napoli faces Lazio; Mourinho-less Roma hosts Juventus bolstered with Pogba return

Runaway chief Napoli will look to increase its eight-match profitable run in Serie A when it hosts Lazio on Friday however faces a stern check towards the second-best defence within the league.

Lazio climbed again into the fourth and the ultimate Champions League spot after beating visiting Sampdoria 1-0 on Monday however it is not going to discover it straightforward towards a Napoli aspect which has saved 4 consecutive clear sheets whereas scoring 10 targets.

Napoli has one hand on the title with an 18-point lead over second-placed Inter Milan and supervisor Luciano Spalletti has nothing however reward for his group because it seems to be to finish a 33-year anticipate the Serie A title with 14 video games left.

“Everyone we face seems to be playing for their lives and if we’re where we are at this stage of the season it means I have a group of lads who know how to handle every game the right way,” he mentioned.

“(They are) displaying the mindset and the spirit you need as a squad if you want to come out on top in every game.”

Juventus is on the rise once more after a 15-point deduction associated to the membership’s switch dealings noticed it plunge from third to tenth place. Four wins in a row have lifted it to seventh within the desk forward of its go to to Roma on Sunday.

Massimiliano Allegri’s aspect is six factors behind sixth-placed Atalanta, which occupies the final European slot, and has been boosted by the return from harm of Paul Pogba.

The France midifelder got here off the bench to make his first look in his second stint since his return to Juve in Tuesday’s 4-2 dwelling win over Torino.

Roma can be with out supervisor Jose Mourinho after the Portuguese coach was banned for 2 video games and fined 10,000 euros ($10,628) for his explosive response to being despatched off in his aspect’s 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Cremonese.

Reigning champion AC Milan bounced again from 4 straight losses in all competitions to win 4 on the trot with out conceding and Stefano Pioli’s aspect can transfer as much as second place with one other win if Inter drops factors at dwelling to Lecce.

Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic is again within the Milan squad after a prolonged harm layoff and the striker would possibly even make his first begin of the season on Saturday at Fiorentina. If he finds the online, the 41-year-old will set the file because the oldest scorer within the historical past of the competitors, overtaking former Milan participant Alessandro Costacurta.

Udinese visits Atalanta on Saturday and can try to interrupt the house aspect’s 10-match unbeaten run towards them in Serie A.

Inter has received every of its final eight dwelling video games towards Lecce in Serie A, however supervisor Simone Inzaghi has warned concerning the influence of its unforgiving schedule.

“We can’t seem to maintain the same level of concentration and determination playing every two and a half days,” he mentioned after Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Bologna.