Five clubs in Serie A race as next round nears
The New Year kicks off with four points separating the top five in the Serie A standings with Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli, Roma and Juventus all with a realistic shot at winning the title.
Inter holds top spot after a four-match winning run and on Monday (AEDT) hosts Bologna, which put an end to its Supercoppa Italiana hopes this month with a semi-final win on penalties.
Bologna has hit a dip in league form, without a win in its past four games to slip to seventh and 10 points adrift of Inter, which is still without the injured Denzel Dumfries, Francesco Acerbi and Ange-Yoan Bonny.
Inter is the top scorer in the league, with 35 goals in 16 games and this season's leading marksman in Serie A, Lautaro Martinez with nine goals, will lead the line at the San Siro alongside Marcus Thuram.
Milan, second in the standings and one point behind its neighbour, will travel to Cagliari on Saturday (AEDT). Massimiliano Allegri's side is unbeaten in 16 league games while Cagliari has won only two out of eight home matches.
Rafael Leao is an injury doubt for Milan, but Allegri will have striker Niclas Fullkrug available after his recent arrival on loan from West Ham United.
The German will likely be on the bench with Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku set to start up front as Milan aims to move top when it kicks off the weekend's action, hoping to put pressure on Inter.
Napoli returned from its Super Cup success with a win at Cremonese to stay third and sits two points off the top spot ahead of an away game at Lazio on Monday (AEDT), where the defending champion will come up against former manager Maurizio Sarri, who underwent a minor heart operation this week but was expected to return to his regular duties within days.
Napoli revitalised the career of Scottish midfielder Scott McTominay after his arrival from Manchester United last season and Antonio Conte looks to be doing the same with Danish striker Rasmus Hojlund.
Hojlund has netted six league goals for Napoli, with four of those coming in the past three games, and his loan move from United is likely to be made permanent after his impressive start at the club.
Roma is fourth, three points behind Inter with a game more played, and coach Gian Piero Gasperini comes up against his former club Atalanta in Sunday's (AEDT) away game.
Gasperini spent nine seasons in charge of Atalanta and has hit the ground running in his first campaign at Roma. His side has the best defensive record in the league, conceding 11 goals in 17 games.
Despite three defeats in its past five, Roma is still in the title chase and has yet to draw a game this season in 23 matches across all competitions.
Juventus, one point behind Roma in fifth, will host struggling Lecce on Sunday (AEDT). The visitors are 16th in the standings, four points above the relegation zone.
