Sunday

LIGUE 1: PSG 2-2 Nice 

Six-pointer at Parc des Princes 

It’s easy to imagine the Parisians brushing this fixture off as an automatic three points in years gone by; PSG have come out on top in all seven of the last Ligue 1 encounters between these two sides and, with a squad replete with stars, have made a habit of swatting the likes of Nice aside in recent seasons.

Oh, but how times have changed!

A stuttering start to the 2016/17 campaign that still hasn’t been fully addressed, as evidenced by last week’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Montpellier, means PSG now find themselves third, trailing Lucien Favre’s table-toppers by four points.

Whether this changing of the guard can be attributed to King Zlatan’s departure, poor summer signings (anyone remember Ben Arfa?) or inertia finally setting in at the Parc des Princes is hard to say. One thing that is for certain though is that Unai Emery is walking on very thin ice so anything other than three points could spell trouble for the Spaniard’s PSG future. 

TORINO 1-3 JUVENTUS

Turin Derby with a difference

No set of supporters has lived through more disappointments in local rivalry terms as Torino’s long-suffering fans. In the last 20 editions of the ‘Derby della Mole’ the Granata have only managed one win (4D, 15L) against their more moneyed neighbors and have fallen on the Old Lady’s sword on a whopping 66 occasions in Serie A.

But there are some reasons for the underdogs of Turin to be quietly confident of getting a result this time around. Mihajlovic’s men are unbeaten at home this season and, with Iago Falqué and Andrea Belotti seemingly getting their hands on the Serie A scoring cheat codes, have netted 14 times in their last five outings at the Stadio Olimpico.

On top of that, despite sitting at the summit of the table, chinks have been appearing in Juve’s defensive armor, particularly away from home; Allegri’s men have already had to swallow three road defeats this campaign and, with defensive rock Leonardo Bonucci out injured, that number may just move to four after 90 minutes of warfare on Torino’s turf.

Monday

SERIE A: Roma 1-0 Milan

Milan's Milennials face the Wolf Pack

Second play hosts to third in Monday night’s mouth-watering clash in the Eternal City, which will cap off the Round 16 action in the Italian top-flight. Level on 32 points, goal difference is the only thing separating the two biggest threats to Juventus’ hopes of collecting a sixth straight Scudetto.

Roma hold the upper hand where the head-to-head is concerned, having lost just one of their last eight league meetings with Milan (3W, 4D), and the Giallorossi also know how to make home-field advantage count - Spalletti’s men boast an eleven-game winning streak at the Stadio Olimpico, including last week’s ‘road game’ against arch rivals Lazio.

However, this season’s incarnation of the Rossoneri is worlds apart from the financially wounded pushover of recent years. Montella’s investment in youth has been paying off dividends – the Milanese young guns have already beaten reigning champs Juve this season and are undefeated in their last five top tier outings.