Rome: Roma faces Lazio in the always heated Rome derby this weekend, while the two struggling Milan squads take on Sicilian opponents.
With only one win in its opening five matches, defending champion AC Milan hosts Palermo at the San Siro, while Inter Milan — which has also won just once — travels to Catania.
Serie A leader Juventus will be favored to maintain its advantage at Chievo Verona, while Udinese — which trails Juve only on goals scored — visits surprise package Atalanta, which would be one point behind the leaders if not for a six-point penalty from a match-fixing and betting scandal.
Also, Napoli warms up for a Champions League match with Bayern Munich by hosting Parma.
Roma and Lazio, meanwhile, each trail the leaders by three points, as they start to gel squads featuring several new players — and in Roma's case, a new coach.
Roma captain Francesco Totti will miss the derby due to a right thigh injury, so coach Luis Enrique could call on Bosnia playmaker Miralem Pjanic, Argentine-born forward Pablo Osvaldo — who made his debut for Italy's national team Tuesday — and Spanish striker Krkic Bojan to play.
Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg could also return for the first time since suffering head and neck trauma in a collision with Inter defender Lucio a month ago.
Lazio, meanwhile, is Germany forward Miroslav Klose recovers from a left knee injury to partner France striker Djibril Cisse in attack. Klose has scored five goals in his first seven matches in all competitions for Lazio.
Roma has won the last five derbies, meaning Edy Reja is yet to win the intercity match since taking over as Lazio coach in Feb. 2009.
Reja offered to resign when Lazio struggled at the start of this season, but club president Claudio Lotito and the squad asked him to stay on. Still, he will be under pressure to produce a victory at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night.
"He knows what he needs to do and he's up to the task," Lotito said. "In a match like the derby there is no favorite."
Without Totti, midfielder Daniele De Rossi will lead Roma.
Like Totti, De Rossi has played his entire career with Roma, and his father coaches the club's youth squad. He has long been nicknamed Roma's "future captain," but the club's new American ownership has not renewed his contract, which expires at the end of this season.
"This game means a lot to me," the 28-year-old De Rossi said. "I'm fortunate in that I've always won the derby recently, whereas when I was 21-22 it was difficult for me and that affected my performance. But now I'm much calmer and the responsibility is the same, with or without Totti."
Meanwhile, Milan striker Robinho and defender Philippe Mexes are ready to return from injury, although forward Alexandre Pato is still out.
Milan's other forwards, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Antonio Cassano, have both recently acknowledged that they no longer enjoy the game as much as they once did.
"I'm not a psychologist but I've spoken with the players and everything is fine," insisted Milan vice president Adriano Galliani. "There's nothing else to say."
New Inter coach Claudio Ranieri is hoping key playmaker Wesley Sneijder returns, although now forward Diego Forlan appears unavailable after injuring his left leg with Uruguay, and goalkeeper Julio Cesar is questionable with back trouble.
Also this weekend, it's: Cesena vs. Fiorentina; Cagliari vs. Siena; Genoa vs. Lecce; and Novara vs. Bologna.
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