ROME, October 1 – Football purists will be hoping for a goal glut when champions Inter Milan host giants Juventus in the plum tie of the weekend in Serie A.Both sides have already smashed in four goals twice this season, most recently when Inter thumped Werder Bremen 4-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday.
What’s more, Juve have the best attack in Serie A with 12 goals in five games but also have the joint worst defence alongside AS Roma and Udinese — both in the bottom three — having leaked nine.
Inter have hit four goals in two of their last three matches and it all points to the potential for an entertaining encounter on Sunday.
However, it is difficult to see the visitors emerging victorious.
Champions Inter are top of Serie A with 10 points, ahead of Lazio on goal difference while Juve are three points back in mid-table.
Although Inter have not always impressed this season, they did grind out crucial 2-1 victories against Udinese and Palermo before hammering Bari 4-0.
Their only real blip was their 1-0 defeat at Roma last time out courtesy of Mirko Vucinic’s injury time winner.
But even without forwards Diego Milito and Goran Pandev and captain Javier Zanetti, they were highly impressive on Wednesday in Europe.
Juve, on the other hand, have been wildly inconsistent this campaign but it has made for entertaining viewing.
They have twice drawn 3-3 at home against Sampdoria and then in the Europa League against minnows Lech Poznan.
They were well beaten when going down 1-0 at Bari and 3-1 at home to Palermo but have showed glimpses of their potential when winning 4-0 at Udinese and 4-2 at home to Cagliari.
The problem for Juve is that they have never looked secure at the back and if there is one team likely to exploit that, it is Inter.
Inter’s players are confident ahead of the game with Argentina midfielder Esteban Cambiasso insisting that Wednesday’s win over Werder had changed nothing for them.
"I don’t think it changes anything, we already knew before the game that we were top of the league," he said.
"In the changing room we’re always calm but you can never control what others are saying."
There is an unlikely top of the table clash this weekend in Rome where Lazio entertain newly-promoted Brescia, with either team capable of heading the table with victory.
Brescia have been a breath of fresh air and could already have been top but for last week’s 2-1 defeat at Bari.
Lazio’s rise is perhaps no less surprising given their financial difficulties and the sale of star players, such as Pandev, over recent years to try to balance the books.
Another team that could be sitting pretty atop the league at the end of the weekend is Chievo who host Cagliari.
However, the Flying Donkeys have had two other opportunities to top the league only to lose home games.
AC Milan are yet another team capable of going top for a day at least as they travel to Parma on Saturday night, but the rossoneri have been far from convincing since their opening day 4-0 win over Lecce.
In fact their only other victory came against Genoa last week when a spectacular Zlatan Ibrahimovic lob saw them scrape home with a 1-0 success.
Having got their first win of the season against Inter last week, Roma face a tough trip to Napoli as they look to climb out of the bottom three and start to make an impression on the title race.
Although lying 18th they are only five points off top.
Fixtures:
Saturday
Udinese v Cesena, Parma v AC Milan
Sunday
Lecce v Catania, Bologna v Sampdoria, Chievo v Cagliari, Fiorentina v Palermo, Genoa v Bari, Lazio v Brescia, Napoli v AS Roma, Inter Milan v Juventus
