Football

Four things to watch during Serie A Matchday 13 as Roma and Juventus host back-to-back derbies live on BT Sport!

Jose Mourinho's men host Lazio in the Derby della Capitale at 5pm on Sunday before the Old Lady welcome Inter to Turin for the Derby d'Italia on what is set to be another blockbuster weekend of Italian top-flight action.

Published: 4 November 2022, 11.33pm | 6 min read

Tammy Abraham's time at Roma has been largely successful since his arrival in the Italian capital in the summer of 2021.

However, the game for which he may always be best remembered is the 3-0 Derby della Capitale victory over Lazio in March as the England international bagged the quickest goal in the fixture's history after 56 seconds before steering in Rick Karsdorp's cross from close range to double the lead on 22 minutes.

Lorenzo Pellegrini's stunning free-kick put the seal on a statement victory in the first half as Jose Mourinho's men went on to win the Europa Conference League in May.

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Roma face Lazio again this Sunday - live on BT Sport 1 from 4.30pm - and sit fourth, a point ahead of Maurizio Sarri's side, who will look to bounce back from a surprise defeat at home to Salernitana on Sunday - their first league defeat since 3 September.

Following that, Juventus - already out of this season's Champions League - host Inter in the historic Derby d'Italia with both sides off the pace in seventh and sixth respectively.

However, the Old Lady have hit some form in Serie A, winning their last three and scoring eight without reply, while Inter have won four on the bounce domestically.

Read on for the lowdown on these two highly anticipated clashes, plus two other storylines to look out for ahead of this weekend's action and information on how to watch the SEVEN Matchday 14 games live on BT Sport from Italy's top flight.

The battle of the ex-Chelsea bosses

Despite their glittering managerial careers, Jose Mourinho and Maurizio Sarri have only faced each other three times in the dugout.

Two of those occasions were last season as Lazio saw off Roma 3-2 before the Portuguese legend masterminded a response in the return fixture as Tammy Abraham bagged twice.

As well as there being two familiar figures prowling the touchline, the two biggest clubs in Rome both boast some former Premier League stars: Pedro and Felipe Anderson for the Eagles and Abraham, Chris Smalling and Nemanja Matic for the Giallorossi.

Mourinho will be without the services of Paulo Dybala as the former Juventus star continues to recover from a hamstring problem he picked up on 9 October, while Leonardo Spinazzola is touch and go.

Sarri meanwhile will be without talisman Ciro Immobile for a month due to a thigh injury he picked up in mid-October, and midfield maestro Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is banned for one game after picking up five bookings, putting more pressure on a front three of Pedro, Anderson and Mattia Zaccagni, who has four goals in his last five league games.

For the hosts, Abraham's campaign has yet to catch fire and the game-changing contribution of Cristian Volpato off the bench against Hellas Verona could see the 18-year-old earn a start ahead of Nicolo Zaniolo.

For Abraham though, March memories of derby delight could be the inspiration for a return to form.

Cristian Volpato came off the bench against Hellas Verona at 1-1 and secured a goal and an assist to help Roma to victory

Inter aim to maintain derby supremacy

Simone Inzaghi's Inter faced Juventus in three different competitions last season, defeating the Old Lady after extra time to scoop both the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana - the Italian equivalents of the FA Cup and Community Shield - while in Serie A, the Nerazzurri emerged 1-0 winners at Allianz Stadium and the points were shared at San Siro.

Ultimately though, Inter's season ended in disappointing fashion as they relinquished the Scudetto to Milan, and both they and Juventus need a significant turnaround in fortunes if they are to challenge for the title given their iffy starts to the season, coupled with Napoli's irresistible form.

However, despite Juve's dismal Champions League campaign, there are some signs of recovery.

Massimiliano Allegri's men head into this contest having recorded three straight Serie A clean sheets for the first time since February and have only dropped points to an in-form Milan in their last five league outings, perhaps indicating that a top-four finish is on once more.

Midfielder Nicolo Faglioli will also be pushing for his first start in the competition after a gorgeous curling winner at Lecce last weekend off the bench, while a number of key players could well be returning to the fold, including centre-back Bremer, left-back Mattia De Sciglio, winger Angel Di Maria and striker Dusan Vlahovic, although Weston McKennie will be out with a muscle problem.

Heartwarmingly, Federico Chiesa will feature after marking his return against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek following a cruciate ligament rupture in January.

Inter have similarly hit something of a purple patch, winning their last four league games and scoring 11 goals in the process, with Nicolo Barella continuing to show why he is so highly prized as a midfield orchestrator and adding goals to his game on a regular basis in the black and blue.

The 25-year-old has already netted as many times this season as he has during the entirety of any of his previous club campaigns (six with Cagliari in 2017/18), and his superb range of passing and willingness to do the dirty work for his team mark him out as an all-rounder in the middle of the park.

Inzaghi will be hopeful of welcoming back Marcelo Brozovic this weekend, but will unfortunately be without the services of Romelu Lukaku, who picked up a thigh problem earlier in the week to leave his World Cup chances in jeopardy, just six days after making his return from a hamstring injury that had kept him out for two months. This game is very tough to call.

Nicolo Barella has become a regular goalscorer to add to the midfield artistry

Unlucky Matchday 13 for Napoli?

Few would have predicted that Atalanta and Napoli would be the top two around a third of the way into the Serie A season - with the latter still unbeaten - and were it not for two historic derby games hogging the limelight, this game would take pride of place as the standout Italian fixture this weekend.

Luciano Spalletti's pacesetters may have seen their run of 21 games in all competitions without defeat come to an end, but it's hard to read too much into the 2-0 loss away at Liverpool given that Napoli had effectively wrapped up top spot in Champions League A.

Victor Osimhen has hit the ground running since his return from injury last month and bagged a hat-trick against Sassuolo last weekend - his first career treble - with Giacomo Raspadori the unlucky man to drop to the bench after a fine start to the campaign.

Spalletti has crafted a squad that has two quality options in virtually every position and is scoring close to three goals a game in 2022/23.

Gian Piero Gasperini is rightly lauded for transforming Atalanta from a side well acquainted with the bottom half to one regularly reaching the Champions League.

A disappointing 2021/22 saw the Bergamo-based outfit finish eighth, and the lack of European action this term may be what has allowed them to mount an unlikely title challenge.

After Juventus, the Goddess, as they are nicknamed, have the division's best defensive record along with Lazio, who ended Atalanta's unbeaten start to the campaign a fortnight ago.

Gasperini's side responded in assured fashion with a 2-0 win at Empoli, with one of those strikes coming from Ademola Lookman, who is thriving after a permanent summer move from RB Leipzig.

One common factor behind these two sides' brilliant form appears to be their lack of injuries. Atalanta are only missing Davide Zappacosta and former Middlesbrough midfielder right-back Marten de Roon, while Napoli's sole absentee is centre-back Amir Rrahmani.

Despite Atalanta's impressive start to the season, I still don't see a "1" being added to the Partenopei's league losses column just yet.

However, Napoli had 10 wins and two draws to their name this time last season before losing 3-2 at Inter. Can they show more resilience this Matchday 13?

Victor Osimhen's hat-trick against Sassuolo was the first treble of his career

Something has to give in losing battle

This match isn't quite a six-pointer, but both 15th-placed Monza and second-from-bottom Hellas Verona could really do with a win.

The hosts, understandably reeling from centre-back Pablo Mari's stabbing last week, took to the field on Monday against Bologna after their request to have the game postponed was rejected.

After the taking lead through Andrea Petagna's penalty, Raffaele Palladino's men ultimately slipped to their third successive league defeat, and immediately after that game, Verona also saw a one-goal advantage turned on its head - against Roma - after scorer Pawel Dawidowicz scored and then was sent off for a wild challenge on Nicolo Zaniolo.

Salvatore Bocchetti can be very encouraged with how his team fared down to 10 men for the majority of the contest against the Giallorossi, but the cold hard facts are that the Gialloblu have lost seven on the bounce, with the sacking of Gabriele Cioffi last month not yet bringing about much obvious change.

Palladino's influence has been more evident, with Monza acting quickly to dismiss predecessor Giovanni Stroppa after the Biancorossi picked up just one point from their first six league games under him this season.

The new man seemingly had the magic touch, sensationally guiding the team to victory over Juventus before further wins over Sampdoria and Spezia.

However, the last three matches have been a sobering reminder of the task facing Palladino in his first senior managerial job.

Along with Mari, fellow Monza centre-backs Armando Izzo and Luca Caldirola are out for the foreseeable future, while influential central midfielder Stefano Sensi is a one booking away from a one-game ban.

For the visitors, Martin Hongla and Thomas Henry are treading the same disciplinary tightrope and, with Dawidowicz almost certain to be suspended this weekend following his red card, the backline will come up against a familiar face in Gianluca Caprari, on loan at Verona last term.