5 Reasons to watch Serie A this weekend

After the international break, Serie A returns with the big match between Napoli and Roma early on Saturday. But the "Derby del Sole" as it's known in Italy isn't the only interesting story line in Italy this weekend, this is what we can look forward to: How will Napoli fare without Milik? The Polish striker’s great start (7 goals in 9 matches in all competitions) led some to believe that you could slide any almost any good striker into Sarri’s system and they would strive. While I don’t share that sentiment, we’ll find out for sure with Manolo Gabbiadini replacing Milik for at least the next three months. While the transfer window is closed, there are some big name strikers who aren’t under contract- both Di Natale and Klose have yet to officially retire. But Napoli has decided to go with what they have by mainly focusing on Gabbiadini or using Mertens or Callejon as the false nine. Gabbiadini will almost certainly start in the match against Roma, the giallorossi have scored the most goals in Serie A and have many options upfront especially now that Dzeko is in form, but the backline is struggling. Roma’s manager Spalletti is looking forward to Rudiger’s return, the German center back has had a quick recovery from the ACL surgery he had last May, the operation was performed by the same doctor who handled Milik’s procedure earlier this week. What can we expect from Marchisio?  the loss of Pogba this summer was expected to have strong repercussions on Juventus because of the fact Marchisio was also recovering from his knee surgery. But Khedira’s excellent start to the season, and more surprisingly his ability to stay healthy, has allowed Allegri to ease in Pjanic slowly while not missing the French international. Executive director Marotta wasn’t lying when he stated this week that you couldn’t really say Juventus missed Marchisio seen Juventus’ results, but his return will allow the Old Lady to have an excellent trio with Khedira and Pjanic. Marchisio won’t likely be able to play this weekend, but he did score in a mid week friendly so his return is imminent. Juventus will face Udinese on Saturday, their opponents will be managed by Gigi Del Neri who replaced Iachini before the international break. Del Neri was the first coach Marotta hired when he took over at Juventus, he’ll certainly have his hands full facing his former team even though Higuain is expected to rest after the international break- having Mandzukic as a replacement is one of the reasons Juventus looks considerably better than anyone else in Serie A. Will Birsa punish his former team Milan? We have seen a long list of former Milan players striving after leaving Milanello. Last year there was a weekend when it felt like every single former rossonero had scored, and now we are seeing Balotelli going back to being Super Mario at Nice. One former MIlanista who is having quietly a great season is Valter Birsa, the trequartista is the most important player on Chievo who surprisingly finds themselves tied for third place in Serie A. Birsa is one of the very few classic trequartisti left in Serie A, coach Maran recently stated that he’s asking him to open up more spaces for the midfielders and the results are showing. Birsa is excellent on set pieces and his left foot has brought a lot of points to Chievo- after this season he looks ready for a bigger stage. While Milan is coming off an excellent win against Sassuolo, they will need to be very careful on Sunday since Chievo is a very good home team. Milan's new super prospect Locatelli will likely replace the injured Montolivo and Lapadula will likely start since Bacca is coming back from a long trip because of the international break. Can Kessie keep up his impressive scoring average? after serving a suspension Franck Kessie is ready to return to Atalanta’s starting lineup. The Ivorian midfielder has taken Serie A by storm by scoring four goals in his first six matches, his performances have attracted the interest of Italy’s top teams as well as Chelsea and Manchester United. Atalanta’s new coach Gasperini, one of the best offensive minds in Serie A, got off to a slow start in Bergamo but now things are looking up. Gasperini hasn’t been afraid to launch keeper Berisha and striker Petagna despite having fairly big names like Sportiello and Paloschi in their roles; his bold decisions have been rewarded with two consecutive wins. Next up they will travel to Tuscany to face Fiorentina who despite only giving up 6 goals have struggled so far this season, the Viola need their top attacking options (Kalinic, Bernardeschi and Ilicic) to really step to keep up with the top teams in Serie A. Will the real Saponara please stand up? Few players have had a more disappointing stretch of months than Riccardo Saponara. The former Milan prospect surprisingly stayed at Empoli this summer despite fact that sporting director Corsi stated that his time in Tuscany was coming to an end since he had nothing more to prove there. If that weren’t enough, Saponara has struggled so far this season- he was even benched against Juventus before the international break. This time last year Saponara was considered one of the up and coming stars in Serie A, considering that he won’t turn 25 until end of December, there is plenty for him to turn it around. He’ll likely get an opportunity to start when Empoli travels to face Genoa, who is energized by keeper Perin’s return.