Serie A Preview: Juve continue title push against Parma

Juventus were given an almighty scare by Catania on Sunday and now look ahead to hosting Parma as they close in on the Serie A title.

Runaway league leaders Juve had to rely on a Carlos Tevez strike just before the hour mark as they struggled past the Italian top-flight’s basement club in a scrappy, turgid affair devoid of any pattern or fluency.

Catania are without a win in five league matches, but have lost just one of their last four on home soil and claimed a 3-1 scalp of Lazio in that run.

On Wednesday, Catania host a Napoli side desperate to cling on to third place and the UEFA Champions League spot that comes with it.

Napoli lost 1-0 at home to nearest rivals Fiorentina on Sunday, with the gap between the two side now seven points heading into the last nine games.

Fourth-placed Fiorentina welcome a Milan side winless in four league games on Wednesday and could crank the pressure up on Clarence Seedorf, who is reportedly fighting to save his job having only taken the reins at San Siro in January.

Juve’s march towards a third successive title continues at home to Parma, although they are by no means guaranteed victory against a side who have not tasted league defeat since November 2 – that loss coming against Antonio Conte’s men.

Rudi Garcia has already appeared to write off Roma’s chances of winning the Serie A title this season, but could put further daylight between themselves and Napoli by winning the opening match of the round against Torino on Tuesday.

Inter will have been boosted by the news that Fredy Guarin has signed a one-year contract extension as they prepare to host Udinese, who themselves snapped up free agent Albert Riera this week, but the Spaniard will not join officially until July.

At the other end of the table, the bottom four were all on the receiving end of defeats last time out in the league, and Chievo will be looking to leapfrog Bologna and pull themselves clear of danger when the sides meet at Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi.

Victory for Chievo would be bad news for fellow strugglers Sassuolo and Livorno, who face tricky opponents in the shape of Sampdoria and Atalanta respectively.

Elsewhere, Verona will be looking for a first win in five when they travel to Cagliari, while Lazio will want to cling on to their slim hopes of European qualification against Genoa.