There are so many talking points in Italian football this season. Juventus’ freefall, the return of romantic Venezia, Jose Mourinho’s feeble Roman revolution, Verona’s incredible oscillations, Fiorentina’s want-away goal-machine Vlahovic, Lazio’s chain-smoking tactics freak Sarri – just to name a few. This weekend we’re in for some intriguing encounters. Let’s take a look.Torino fans could hardly believe their eyes when they read the news on Friday morning. There were no stories about their Saturday’s visit to Spezia, no transfer talk nor tactical analysis. No, they got to read that around 40 kilos of food had to be taken out of their Olympic Stadium after a sudden visit of a health inspection found that refreshments kiosks inside the ground had many products way past their best-before date. ##EDITORS_CHOICE##Much of the food arrived to Torino FC’s restaurant from a renowned supplier from the city, but a close examination conducted on 22 October during Granata’s match against Genoa showed that there were many irregularities – expired products, unlabelled food and meat on the verge of going bad. Weird.Juventus are in trouble. They’ve only managed four wins in their first 11 games in the league this season, making it their worst start to a Serie A campaign in nearly two decades. They managed to beat Russian team Zenit in the Champions League on Tuesday and thus qualify for the knockout round. Still, their domestic form is embarrassing – and they need to turn it around quickly. Fiorentina arrive to Juventus Stadium on the back of their 3-0 win over Spezia in which their sought-after Serbian hitman Dusan Vlahovic scored all three goals. Considering the fact that the Bianconeri were one of the clubs interested in his services, this would be the right time for the former Partizan Belgrade man to steal the show again.They brought the coach who wins titles. Five months later, he says there is no chance to win the titleOn Sunday, all eyes will be focused on the Giuseppe Meazza stadium. Well, most eyes anyway. The legendary venue in Milan will again stage one of the biggest fixtures in Italian football – Derby Della Madonnina. The clash of city rivals AC Milan and Inter is again worth more than just prestige and local bragging rights. Both Nerazzurri and Rossoneri are again candidates to win the Scudetto – the Serie A title. Inter scored a routine win at Sheriff in the Champions League while Milan lost all chances to qualify from their tough group as they were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Porto. This promises to be one of the best city derbies in recent years.📰@AntoVitiello: #Milan have sold all 57,000 tickets for the game against L’inter. The attendance gauge is 75%. pic.twitter.com/fxXGHbTnxy— Milan Posts (@MilanPosts) November 5, 2021 In the early kick-off, there will be fire in the city that’s floating on water. Under-pressure Jose Mourinho will take his Roma team to Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo in Venice for a fixture that hasn’t been seen in a while. Venezia are just above the relegation zone in their first season back in Serie A. They haven’t hosted the Giallorossi in 19 years. It will be some occasion at the stadium that many fans reach by boat.
Down south, the league leaders Napoli are set to host rejuvenated Hellas Verona on what should be a poignant occasion. The former Diego Maradona’s club will honour the man who won them their only-ever Scudetto by playing in a special one-off shirt that features the legendary Argentine’s face. Hellas, full of confidence after their win over Juventus, will try to run the day for the hosts. They are looking great since replacing Eusebio Di Francesco with Croatian coach Igor Tudor just three games into the season.30 October. History will remember you for ETERNITY. Forever in our hearts.#Maradona 1960 – ♾💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/x0XIDqtVS0— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) October 30, 2021 SERIE A – Round 12Friday22.45: (2.15) Empoli (3.60) Genoa (3.50)Saturday17.00: (3.60) Spezia (3.50) Torino (2.15)20.00: (1.65) Juventus (3.90) Fiorentina (6.00)22.45: (6.50) Cagliari (4.40) Atalanta (1.55)Sunday14.30: (6.25) Venezia (4.10) Roma (1.60)17.00: (2.55) Sampdoria (3.40) Bologna (2.95)17.00: (2.60) Udinese (3.40) Sassuolo (2.85)20.00: (1.33) Lazio (5.90) Salernitana (9.50)20.00: (1.45) Napoli (4.70) Verona (8.00)22.45: (3.05) Milan (3.40) Inter (2.45)***odds are subject to change