Serie A has two excellent matches scheduled for Saturday.

Juventus v Fiorentina

These two sides have almost identical records with goal difference all that separates them – Juventus has a + 5 to Fiorentina’s +3.  However, Juventus and Fiorentina approach this game from very different directions.

Ciro Ferrara is facing his first mini-crisis since taking over from Claudio Ranieri at the tail end of last season. Two draws and a loss in the league combined with two draws in Champions League have tarnished a start that had brought four fairly convincing wins while conceding only one goal.

Conversely, Fiorentina have picked up momentum since losing away to Lyon in the Champions League and being badly beaten 3-1 by Roma a month ago. Within ten days of the second loss Fiorentina had rebounded to beat Serie A leaders Sampdoria 2-0, Livorno 1-0, and had made Liverpool look clueless and lifeless in a 2-0 Group E match.

In Alberto Gilardino, Fiorentina, have a striker who must have thoroughly enjoyed the winter break. The former Parma and Milan striker saved Italy in Dublin with a late equalizer while he scored a rapid-fire hat trick to inspire a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Cyprus. (It got even better when his two game European suspension was halved which means he is available for the trip to play Debrecen in Hungary this coming week).

Last season the Fiorentina was often undervalued and with exception of the Roma disaster it looks like they are going to be tough to breakdown once again. Five clean sheets in seven Serie A games and five games in all competitions since allowing a goal at home is not a bad start by any means.

Genoa v Inter Milan

If Inter have had a weakness since the arrival of Jose Mourinho it has been their away form.  All four Serie A losses last season came on their travels and the single loss this season was on the road.

And for Inter, it will be a case of returning to the scene of the crime on Saturday. Three weeks ago they lost 3-1 to Sampdoria who share Luigi Ferraris Stadium with Genoa – or to give them their full title the Genoa Cricket and Football Club.

Last season in the corresponding fixture they lost 2-0 to Inter – one of only two home defeats last season. But come the summer they lost again – this time it was two players as Diego Milito and Thiago Motta completed big money transfers to Inter. Coming the other way, but in an unrelated move, was veteran Argentine striker Hernan Crespo.

Genoa are currently three points behind Inter and must to eager to close that gap. Genoa’s last win at home against Inter was way back in the 1994/95 season. Dutch international John Vant’Schip scored that day for Genoa.

John Vant’Schip was born and spent his first nine years in British Columbia before the family returned to the Netherlands. (His Canadian connection guarantees that his name pops up on chat boards every time Canada is in the market for a national team coach). He went on to sign for Ajax and the national team. At the club level he won domestic and European trophies while he was part of the Netherlands squad that won Euro ’88.

Since turning to coaching he has spent time as the assistant to Marco Van Basten during his spell in charge of the Netherlands and Ajax. Earlier this week Vant’Schip was put in charge of the Melbourne Heart, an expansion A league side in Australia.

Statistical note

This season Genoa have scored nine goals after half time while Inter have scored seven in the opening forty five minutes. A game of two halves perhaps?

Who is hot and who is not…a weekly look at the form teams over the last 5 games.

Premier League

Manchester United – 13 points

West Ham – 2 points

Ligue Une

Lyon - 13 points

Grenoble – 0 points

Bundesliga

Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen - 13 points

Hertha Berlin – 0 points

Serie A

Inter - 12 points

Livorno and Siena – 2 points

La Liga

Barcelona and Sevilla – 15 points

Malaga – 1 point

SPL

Celtic – 10 points

Kilmarnock and Falkirk – 3 points

MLS

FC Dallas 12 points

New York Red Bulls – 2 points