Napoli and Inter eager to lay down marker ahead of Scudetto clash

With one round of Serie A matches to play before Napoli and Inter Milan come face-to-face in a top-of-the-table clash, the two sides will each hope to steal a march this weekend after the title contenders have struggled to impress of late.

The Scudetto race should really be hotting up at this stage, but in recent weeks both Napoli and Inter have hit dips in form, while third-placed Atalanta have also dropped points.

Napoli hold a two-point lead over champions Inter, but go into Sunday's trip to Como on the back of three successive draws, which brought an end to their seven-game winning run. Inter, however, have failed to take advantage.

They also picked up just three points from their last three, where they suffered defeats to Fiorentina and Juventus, and on Saturday they host Genoa.

Atalanta had put together an 11-game winning streak to top the standings but have won just two of their eight matches since. They sit five points off Napoli and are at Empoli on Sunday, a side battling relegation and 10 games without a win.

On paper, the top three should all take maximum points this weekend, but given their recent form nothing can be taken for granted.

Napoli face a Como side full of confidence. They won 2-0 at Fiorentina last weekend, having outplayed Juventus but ended up losing to an 89th minute penalty the previous week.

Como are making their return to the top flight after a gap of 21 years, and after a difficult start, manager Cesc Fabregas has managed to pull his side five points clear of the relegation zone.

Napoli come up against an attacking trio of Nico Paz, Gabriel Strefezza and Assane Diao, capable of hurting any side, and will do well to come away with all three points.

Inter will be heavy favourites to beat Genoa, but then again, the visitors were once deemed relegation certainties. After 10 games they were rooted to the bottom of the standings having collected just six points.

Alberto Gilardino was dismissed after winning two of 12 games but under Patrick Vieira, Genoa have turned things around with five wins in 13 to move 10 points ahead of the bottom three.

Genoa have also kept seven clean sheets since Vieira took charge and Inter may be without top scorer Marcus Thuram, who is struggling with an ankle injury.

EUROPEAN EXITS

It was nightmare week for Italian sides in the Champions League, and having begun the tournament with five teams involved, Inter will be the only Serie A representative in the last 16.

Atalanta crashed out to Club Brugge, while there was double Dutch trouble for both AC Milan Juventus.

Juventus went down to PSV Eindhoven, and will hope to bounce back with a fourth consecutive league win when they go to Cagliari on Sunday. Juve are fourth in the standings, five off Atalanta.

Milan, meanwhile, were dumped out by Feyenoord and now face a battle to make next season's Champions League. They sit seventh in the table and travel to take on Torino on Saturday.