The Serie A returns this weekend and promises deliver a lot more entertainment just as it did in the first week of the new campaign. The readiness of all the sides - especially the potential title contenders - is not in question considering the outcome of games in the different league centers. For the first time since the 1974-75 season, game week 1 of the Italian top-flight league ended without any draw, producing five home and away victories apiece.
In retrospect, all of the prospective title challengers won their first matches. Ahead of the second round of games we take a look at their preparations and the magnitude of the task they face.
League standings ahead of Matchday 3 in Serie A
| Pos. | Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | P | Form | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Internazionale | 33 | 27 | 5 | 1 | 79 | 18 | +61 | 86 | WDWWD | |
| 2 | Milan | 33 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 64 | 39 | +25 | 69 | LDWWW | |
| 3 | Juventus | 33 | 18 | 10 | 5 | 47 | 26 | +21 | 64 | DDWLD | |
| 4 | Bologna | 33 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 62 | WDDWW | |
| 5 | Roma | 32 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 57 | 38 | +19 | 55 | LWDWD | |
| 6 | Atalanta | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 59 | 37 | +22 | 54 | WDLWD | |
| 7 | Lazio | 33 | 16 | 4 | 13 | 42 | 35 | +7 | 52 | WWLWW | |
| 8 | Napoli | 33 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 49 | LDWLD | |
| 9 | Fiorentina | 32 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 45 | 36 | +9 | 47 | WDLLD | |
| 10 | Torino | 33 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 31 | 29 | +2 | 46 | DDLWW | |
| 11 | Monza | 33 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 35 | 43 | -8 | 43 | LDLLW | |
| 12 | Genoa | 33 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 35 | 40 | -5 | 39 | LDWDD | |
| 13 | Lecce | 33 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 30 | 48 | -18 | 35 | WWLDW | |
| 14 | Cagliari | 33 | 7 | 11 | 15 | 36 | 56 | -20 | 32 | DDWDL | |
| 15 | Hellas Verona | 33 | 7 | 10 | 16 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 31 | WDLDL | |
| 16 | Empoli | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | 26 | 48 | -22 | 31 | WLWLL | |
| 17 | Udinese | 32 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 30 | 48 | -18 | 28 | LLDLW | |
| 18 | Frosinone | 33 | 6 | 10 | 17 | 40 | 63 | -23 | 28 | DDDDL | |
| 19 | Sassuolo | 33 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 39 | 65 | -26 | 26 | LDDDL | |
| 20 | Salernitana | 33 | 2 | 9 | 22 | 26 | 70 | -44 | 15 | LLDLL |
Top games to watch on Matchday 3 in Serie A
Torino vs Lazio
Torino and Lazio will compete this weekend hoping to build on their respective three-point performances from the first day. Although the visitors will undoubtedly begin as the favourites to win, both teams will approach the match with their spirits high and their sights set on victories. The team led by Maurizio Sarri kicked off the season last weekend with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Bologna.
Relatively, Torino defeated freshly promoted Monza by the same score in their respective match. Both teams will be eager to give their fans a different result after the last three encounters between the two teams ended in draws.
Inter vs Spezia
Last weekend, Romelu Lukaku renounced himself to the fans of Serie A following his return to Inter Milan in a loan move from Chelsea this summer. It took the Belgian striker just three minutes to open his goalscoring account for the season, spurring on the Nerazzurri to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Leece. It took an injury-time goal from Denzel Dumphries to secure three points for Simeone Inzaghi's men and, this time, they will be required to start well against an opponent that featured among the 10 teams to win on matchday 1.
Spezia will travel to San Siro on Saturday having earned an important 1-0 win over Empoli on the opening day.
Napoli vs Monza
Napoli were more than fired up in their first game of the season with a spectacular performance earning them a remarkable 5-2 win over Hellas Verona. It could have certainly been more and Luciano Spalletti's side has already shown that they will be a force to reckon with this term. Last season, they came up just short of the two Milan teams, but the signs point to them being title contenders this time around.
The Rossoneri will come up against newly-promoted Monza who are anxiously anticipating the upcoming weekend. The Serie A newcomers suffered a 2-1 loss to Torino on matchday one, and Sunday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona could be a prove to be another dauting affair.
Atalanta vs AC Milan
The biggest clash of this gameweek will feature an outsider in the title race and the current holders of the Scudetto. After getting a favourable result against Udinese in their opening match, Milan will now face a more challenging opponent in Atalanta. Stefano Pioli's team were able to find the back of the net four times but must be weary of the porous nature of their defense which allowed their opponents to get two goals back.
Meanwhile, Gian Piero Gasperini's always entertaining Atalanta team will be vying for their own chance to advance to European play, and their recent 2-0 victory against Sampdoria has them well-positioned for what could be an exciting matchup.
Sampdoria vs Juventus
With a strong 3-0 victory over Sassuolo to kick off their season, Juventus finally look revitalised and well prime for the new campaign. Even though they won't have newly acquired Angel Di Maria, who scored on his debut, they will benefit from repeating that performance against Sampdoria. They still have Dusan Vlahovic to guide them to victory with the former Fiorentina man hitting a brace in the opening weekend's win.
For Sampdoria, this test might have come too soon despite it being their second straight home game of the season. They lost to Atalanta last weekend and will be hoping that things will be different for them heading into the upcoming encounter.
Who's out for Matchweek 3 in Serie A?
Atalanta
OUT: Marco Carnesecchi, Ederson, José Merih Demiral, Davide Zappacosta
Fiorentina
OUT: Gaetano Castrovilli Igor
Inter Milan
OUT: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Juventus
OUT: Angel Di Maria, Arthur, Wojciech Szczesny, Félix Correia, Marley Aké, Paul Pogba, Kaio Jorge, Federico Chiesa
Lazio
OUT: Luís Maximiano (suspended)
Napoli
