A Couple Slightly Massive Games For Our Viewing Pleasure

First and most importantly, we have the proverbial top-of-the-table clash between Inter, AKA The Team Without Any Defenders, and Roma, AKA The Team That Plays the Pretty Football. Totti is back for Roma, though Alberto Aquilani is unlikely to figure, which is a small mercy for Inter. Inter, meanwhile, are falling apart at the seams: Despite hopeful muttering in the press, Crisitian Chivu isn’t even fit for the bench, Matrix is still broken, Nelson Rivas is out for a month with heart problems (!), Maicon is still suspended and, oh yeah, Zlatan and Crespo are both “unwell,” whatever that means. If by “unwell” they mean crazy, that’s never been a problem for Zlatan before. If it means they’re hurt, though, the game could get really, really ugly. [Channel 4 has their usual preview here, and Marco's got a nice post up on the history of the Inter-Roma rivalry. And, if what you're looking for is a very smart preview drowning in vitriol, Chris can hook you up.]

Up north, meanwhile, there’s the little matter of the first Turin derby in four years, “hosted” by Torino. In incredibly bad news for Toro, Gigi Buffon is back in training after leaving the midweek match with an injury, and has been declared fit to start Sunday. Doh! Despite their loss to Udinese and struggles to play the football supporters expect, Juve had had a great start on paper and are scoring goals in bunches, while Toro had been busy grinding out draws until Wednesday’s loss to Parma. Despite Eugenio Corini’s best efforts to get his team fired up and appropriately angry, their problems finding the back of the net combined with Buffon’s return to the Juve goal could add up to a long evening for the home side. That said, I hope I’m terribly wrong and that it ends 2-0 Torino, with a bit of brilliance from Recoba and a 30-yard free kick from Corini. [Keep an eye on the Juve blog for reaction and, just maybe, a nice biased preview; Channel 4's take is up already.]

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Category: Inter, Juventus, Roma, Rumors & News, Serie A