SERIE A - Round 4 Wrap Up:

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Article by e-Football's Serie A Correspondent Daniel Pisani

Over the weekend we continued to see who the pace setters are for the league as AS Roma won in the Roman Derby and are top of the Serie A with S.S Napoli who also won a great game against AC Milan at the San Siro. It was in that game that the world finally witnessed Mario Balotelli missing a penalty for the first time in his career.

Roma and Napoli are definitely going to be there come end of the season and they seem to be winning their matches with ease. Fiorentina won away at Atalanta to stay close to the top as did Juventus who beat Hellas Verona 2-1 thanks to goals from Carlos Tevez and Llorente. Inter Milan humiliated Sassuolo 7-0 and in that match we saw the return of the "prince" Diego Milito who bagged himself a brace.

Cagilari and Sampdoria played out a 2-2 that was decided in stoppage time with 3 of the goals coming after the 90th, in was an epic finish!

AC MILAN & BALOTELLI NOT SO SUPER:

AC Milan have started their campaign similar to last season to my surprise and they are making it fairly impossible to even get close to a European place, especially with Roma and Napoli having perfect starts and Juventus, Fiorentina and Inter still undefeated but 2 points behind. The suspension to Balotelli also doesn't help their cause as the striker was shown a 2nd yellow after the final whistle on the weekend which has resulted in a 3 match suspension and will see him miss the big game against Juventus. In my opinion Allegri or the club need to suspend him for a long period of time to get it in the strikers head that he is replaceable, his form as of late has been poor managing to only score his goals from the spot. Italian manager Prandelli should really consider his plans for the striker as I'm sure if his actions for club translate to the national team he will have safety issues on hand.

ROUND 5:

In round 5 of the Serie A which kicks off tomorrow we have a mouth watering clash between Inter Milan and Fiorentina and another match to keep an eye on will be Lazio v Catania. Sassuolo travel to Napoli and if Inter could hit 7 passed the Green and Blacks just imagine how much damage Higuain and Hamsik could do.

Expect a turnover in players this week as sides look to rest their primary 11 so in predicting outcomes, factor in the absence of key men.

Predictions:

Udinese v Genoa - - (1-1) - lacklustre match ahead and predicting borderline boring, but keep an eye out for Muriel to continue to impress.

Bologna v AC Milan - - (1-2) - would not be surprised to see another upset though picking AC, Bologna at home are a pain and with no Mario, Matri will have to step up.

Chievo v Juventus - - (0-2) - Pirlo should be rested and would not be surprised to see a Giovinco Llorente partnership up top. Might be time to rest Carlitos too.

Lazio v Catania - - (2-1) - Candreva to be the decider in this one.

Livorno v Cagliari - - (2-1) - Livorno to continue their surprising start to the season against an under performing Cagliari.

Napoli v Sassuolo - - (5-1) - Demolition ahead. Napoli by a lot!!!

Parma v Atalanta - - (2-1) - Cassano please step up and get your team their first win.

Sampdoria v Roma - - (0-2) - Expect Totti to be rested and another win to go with their perfect start.

Torino v Hellas Verona - - (2-1) - Tight one but only picking Torino based on home ground advantage.

Inter Milan v Fiorentina - - (2-2) - Both teams undefeated and I predict things to stay that way with an exciting draw.

S.S Napoli and their way to European victory:

What a squad Rafa Benitez has put together and due to the Spaniard being in charge I tip Napoli to have great success in Europe and top their Group in the UCL which contains Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Marseille. They defeated last years finalist in Naples last week and they tackle Arsenal at the Emirates next. They have been playing a very fluid and attractive style of play which has been rewarded with top of the table status in the Serie A along side A.S Roma. Higuain is head lining the attack with Hamsik and it seems the chemistry they have is just as effective as the one Hamsik had with Cavani.

Interesting times ahead for the Italian league and the Italian teams in Europe.

Until next time guys!!!

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Daniel Joseph Pisani #23