Juventus enjoyed a brief spell at the top of Serie A thanks to its 4-0 win at Chievo but was quickly replaced by Napoli, which racked up a 5-1 victory against Empoli.

The sides went into Monday's (AEDT) action separated by two points and both appear certain to go head-to-head for the Scudetto as they secured convincing wins before the Milan derby.

Juve was in action first and was set on its way to a 12th consecutive Serie A win by Alvaro Morata's first-half brace as Chievo struggled for momentum without Alberto Paloschi, after his move to Swansea City.

Alex Sandro and Paul Pogba made a comfortable win easier with quick-fire strikes after the hour as the champion's mid-season recovery now leaves it just one win shy of matching a club-record run.

Nevertheless, Juve remains off the pace as Napoli matched its nearest challenger.

Empoli midfielder Leandro Paredes opened the scoring and gave those in Turin hope of a slip-up but Gonzalo Higuain's 22nd league goal of the season levelled matters just five minutes later.

Lorenzo Insigne, Michele Camporese's own-goal and a Jose Callejon brace returned Maurizio Sarri's men to top spot in style as they reached the 50-goal mark in Serie A.

Paulo Sousa was sent to the stands late on for kicking a ball that remained in play as Fiorentina was held 0-0 by Genoa while Udinese and Lazio had a man each dismissed in their goalless stalemate.

Rock-bottom Verona remains winless as it failed to find a way past Torino in their 0-0 draw at the Stadio Olimpico although there were goals aplenty at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara as Bologna edged a five-goal thriller against Sampdoria 3-2, Mattia Destro sealing the points from the spot after Ricky Alvarez handled the Italian's goal-bound header three minutes from time.