By Michael Ottolenghi

Serie A is increasingly looking like a three horse race, with Juventus, Milan and Udinese within two points of each other at the top of the table. Lazio, Napoli and Palermo remain in the discussion, but are unlikely to remain in contention for long due to lack of squad depth (Lazio), European distractions (Napoli) and dismal away form (Palermo). League leaders Juventus have the toughest fixture of the three in the next round of Serie A games, as they travel to Rome to face Roma in a Monday night game, while Udinese host Chievo and Milan travel to Bologna. The other fixture to watch out for is Inter’s home tie against Fiorentina.

Juventus continued their impressive start to the season with a controversial 2-0 home win against Cesena last Sunday, confirming their status as league leaders. Juventus struggled more than usual, with their goals only coming at the end of the second half, thanks to a good effort from Claudio Marchisio and a very generous penalty converted by Arturo Vidal. As goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had warned during the week, Juventus have had other false dawns following fast starts in recent years, so caution is still called for. Nonetheless, with the exception of their spectacular 3-3 draw against Napoli a couple of weeks ago, Juventus have beaten every “big” team they have faced so far (including both Milanese sides) and will not be intimidated by a trip to face Rome’s weaker side.

Roma-Juventus used to be a marquee fixture in Serie A, but Roma’s disappointing season has lessened the stakes for Monday night’s game. Trailing Juventus by 12 points after just 13 games, Roma have yet to assimilate the methods of new manager Luis Enrique. Instead of being the “new Barca,” as the manager promised, Roma have succumbed to the usual indiscipline without shining on the pitch. In last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Fiorentina, the giallorossi ended the game with 8 men, as Juan, Gago and Bojan were all sent off. When added to the violent altercation between strikers Osvaldo and Erik Lamela last week, it feels like the players are out of control.

The suspension of Juan, added to the injuries to Nicolas Burdisso and Simon Kjaer, mean that Roma effectively have no centre backs to face Juventus. The defeat against Fiorentina saw Roma fans turning on Luis Enrique for the first time, with calls for him to sacrifice his beliefs in favour of points and, more importantly, to play ageing club legend Francesco Totti, who has languished on the bench for most of the season. Luis Enrique is unlikely to cave in, as he has repeatedly confirmed that his main objective is to impose his style of play, even at the expense of immediate results. If his team fails to beat Juventus on Monday night, he may have to choose between changing styles or losing his job.

Meanwhile, both Udinese and Milan will be hoping to capitalise on any slip up by Juventus to make up their 2 point deficit. The surprise team of the last two years, Udinese are sometimes accused of being overly dependent on Serie A’s top scorer of the last two seasons, Antonio Di Natale, but their 1-0 away win against Inter last Saturday showed that they can win even with Di Natale misfiring. The goal came from Chilean midfielder Mauricio Isla, in a game that saw Udinese completely outplay their more titled rivals in a magnificent team performance. Chievo should pose no major problems at the Stadio Friuli, and Bologna should equally not take any points off a resurgent and Ibrahimovic-dependent Milan.

Far away from the top of the table, two of the most disappointing teams of the season will meet at San Siro as Fiorentina face Inter. Both teams have changed their managers during the season, with Claudio Ranieri in charge at Inter and Delio Rossi in Florence, and while Fiorentina have significantly lowered expectations for the year, Inter seem to still be in denial and continue to talk about title aspirations despite the fact they are just four points above the relegation zone. Ranieri would be better off focusing on not being relegated, starting with avoiding defeat on Sunday. How times have changed.