Fiorentina vs Sassuolo is the sort of game that can very much go either way. Both sides have got incredibly exciting and goal-laden displays in them, but they are also capable of being very underwhelming.

Living in hope, let’s back the idea that the attacking stars in each team will be the protagonists of this one and there will be plenty of goals to enjoy. Against Empoli, Arthur Cabral scored a wonderful goal from the edge of the box and his celebrations suggested that a lot of frustration went into the powerful shot.

His time in Italy has not gone to plan so far but there have been glimpses and he will be desperate to build on that goal with a strong performance against a weak Sassuolo defence.

On the flip side, Domenico Berardi is fit and scoring again for Sassuolo which makes them a much more dangerous side than earlier in the season, and Armand Lauriente has looked like a very exciting forward player when he gets on the ball.

The Neroverdi will be determined to get all three points as they would not have expected to lose 2-1 at home to Sampdoria on Matchday 16 and given they are now down in 16th, Alessio Dionisi will be acutely aware that the drop zone is not a million miles away.

Juventus are in an absolutely fascinating paradox right now. They are the in-form team in Serie A coming into Matchday 17 having won seven league matches on the bounce, but nobody wants to sit down and watch them.

Their win against Cremonese in the first game of 2023 was an incredibly uninspiring display in which they somewhat robbed the three points. Cremonese, without a win all season, were the team that looked the most likely to get the winner. In the end, it was Arkadiusz Milik’s late goal that secured the 1-0 win for Massimiliano Allegri’s side.

That is why coming into this home game against Udinese, it is hard to back against Juventus. They may not be pretty to look at, but they sure as hell know how to win games of football right now.

Federico Chiesa is slowly building his minutes on the pitch which makes them more of a threat, and Udinese are a shell of their early-season selves it seems. They could only manage a 1-1 draw with Empoli in midweek.

The fact that they will be without Gerard Deulofeu and Adam Masina is a big blow and their aim will be to sit deep and try to frustrate the hosts. In many ways, you’d expect that to work, but Juventus just keep finding a way through these sorts of teams and that is likely going to continue being the case.

There is the potential for this game between the two sides from Lombardia to be more interesting than initially expected. Monza’s early season form was truly dreadful but once they brought in Raffaele Palladino, the results and the performances improved a lot.

Having been sat down at the bottom of the table under Giovanni Stroppa, Monza are now up to 15th place and they got a very respectable 1-1 draw away at Fiorentina on Matchday 16. They have the quality in the squad and the confidence in front of their own fans to cause Inter some problems.

That is why it would not be implausible for them to find the back of the net at some stage in this Saturday night contest. Inter’s defence is not as convincing this season as it was last season.

Whilst a Monza goal is very possible, expect Inter to get all three points at the final whistle. The Nerazzurri were very impressive in their 1-0 win over Napoli which was absolutely crucial for keeping their slim hopes of winning the title in check.

They will be feeling very confident after becoming the first team to beat Napoli all season and that confidence will likely be enough to take them to victory at Monza, but it may not be a walk in the park for Simone Inzaghi’s side.

The coach also has his four strikers in Lautaro Martinez, Romelu Lukaku, Edin Dzeko and Joaquin Correa fit and available, something that hasn’t happened since the opening day of the season.