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Catania - Cagliari

Catania Coach Silvio Baldini faces the sack if he doesn’t get three points here, following a simply disastrous run of form.

The Sicilians haven’t won in 10 Serie A games, losing four of their last five to push them into the third relegation position.

Cagliari’s slim hopes of avoiding the drop were given a boost as they beat Genoa 2-1 last Sunday.

However the Sardinians are still rock-bottom of the table, seven points away from safety.

Empoli - Milan

Empoli’s survival hopes took a blow when they disappointingly lost 2-0 at home to Siena, their second successive defeat.

These losses followed three victories on the bounce, and the Tuscans know they need some positive results soon as they are just one point and one place above the bottom three currently.

Morale at Milan will be low following their painful Champions league exit in midweek to Arsenal.

The Rossoneri know they have to start winning in Serie A if they are to enter next season’s Champions League. They are currently languishing in fifth place, four points behind Fiorentina in the final qualifying position.

Genoa - Juventus

Genoa had been in wonderful form going into last week’s match at Cagliari, with six wins, a draw, and two defeats from their previous nine games.

However they then fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat to the basement-dwellers. The Rossoblu are still sitting pretty in eighth.

Juventus need to start picking up points fast if they want to stay on track to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

The Bianconeri are still in third, but last week’s 3-2 defeat to Fiorentina means they have picked up just one point in their last three games.

Inter - Reggina

Inter need a victory here to get back on track after going four matches in all competitions without a win.

The Nerazzurri have picked up just two points from their last three league games and have seen their lead at the top cut to six points.

Reggina’s Coach Renzo Ulivieri was sacked after last week’s 0-0 draw with Palermo and replaced by Nevio Orlandi, whose nickname is ‘the peasant’.

The Calabrians will be hoping they don’t come out poorly from this game at San Siro as they are currently second-from-bottom, three points adrift of safety.

Lazio - Livorno

Lazio seem to have finally shrugged off any relegation concerns as they earned a well-deserved 1-1 draw at Milan to consolidate their six-point advantage over the bottom three.

The twelfth placed Biancocelesti’s chances of getting into the UEFA Cup are slim, though not impossible if they are able to put together a decent run.

Livorno ended their dreadful run of form last week with a crucial 1-0 win over fellow relegation strugglers Catania.

Before the game the Tuscans had lost five from seven, but they have now moved back out of the bottom three, into 15th.

Napoli - Roma

Napoli had won just two from nine going into last week’s match with unbeaten league-leaders Inter at San Paolo.

However the Partenopei produced a brilliant performance to deservedly win 1-0 courtesy of Marcelo Zalayeta’s early goal. They are still in 11th, but are now only three points off Europe.

Roma are playing some of their best football of the season, and confidence will be sky-high after dumping Real Madrid out of the Champions League in midweek.

The Giallorossi’s Scudetto hopes are also back on as they cut Inter’s lead at the top to six points, following their 4-0 thrashing of Parma last Saturday.

Palermo - Udinese

Palermo have been playing much better since their President Maurizio Zamparini labelled them a bunch of “little girls” after the round 22 defeat to Torino.

However last week they will have been disappointed to only draw 0-0 at second-bottom Reggina. The Rosanero currently occupy ninth.

Udinese have been very poor in 2008 and had lost four from seven going into last week’s home game with Atalanta.

Things took a turn for the better though as goals from Azzurri duo Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Di Natale led them to a 2-0 win, which strengthens their grip on a UEFA Cup position.

Parma - Sampdoria

Parma are back on the negative trail after being thumped 4-0 at Roma last week.

The Gialloblu had gone eight games without a win before the week 25 victory over Udinese, and they will be hoping that another poor run has not begun.

Sampdoria’s 2-2 draw with Torino last week was overshadowed by Antonio Cassano’s explosive sending off, which has seen him receive a five-match ban.

This is a big blow to the Blucerchiati, who were relying heavily on Fantantonio to fire them into Europe. Samp are still in seventh, but there are a whole host of teams just behind them.

Siena - Fiorentina

Coming into this Tuscan derby, Siena have picked up two crucial wins over relegation rivals in successive weeks.

First they won 1-0 over rock-bottom Cagliari, before following this up by defeating Empoli 2-0 in another all-Tuscan clash. They are now up to 14th, and have given themselves a four-point gap over the bottom three.

Fiorentina picked up a superb 3-2 win at Juventus last weekend to not only close the gap on third-placed Juve to one point, but also open up a four-point lead over fifth-placed Milan.

With 12 games left of the season the Viola are looking good to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Torino – Atalanta

No prizes for guessing the outcome of Torino’s game with Sampdoria last week – yes you’ve got it – another draw.

This was the Granata’s 16th draw from 26 games this campaign, and they must surely be on course for some kind of record if the draws keep coming as they are. They are currently 13th in the table.

Atalanta lost 2-0 at Udinese, a result that didn’t really knock their UEFA Cup hopes as most of the teams around them failed to capitalise.

The Nerazzurri are in ninth position, just two points out of the European places.

source:goal.com