It was another excellent weekend of Serie A action on Paramount+ with the top dogs of our rankings changing places once again as champions Inter Milan got back to winning ways and Jose Mourinho’s Roma came undone. Hellas Verona and Cagliari were under new bosses this weekend, and both got immediate reactions from their new sets of players against Roman opposition. Meanwhile Napoli are now the only team in the league with a 100% record after their Monday night masterclass against Udinese.
Our rankings after the fourth round of games:
1 – Napoli (+2)
Luciano Spalletti’s men are now the only side in Serie A with four wins from four and have taken a two-point lead at the summit heading into the midweek slate of games. The Partenopei blew a previously solid Udinese side away with Victor Osimhen, Amir Rrahmani, Kalidou Koulibaly and Hirving Lozano all scoring. The feeling has always been that Napoli have the quality to challenge for the title and perhaps not the depth and they are making that quality felt in the early weeks of the season under new leadership.
2 – Milan (-)
Stefano Pioli’s men remain unbeaten but are no longer in possession of a 100% winning return after their 1-1 draw with Juventus. Sandro Tonali provided for Ante Rebic’s later equalizer. Drawing away from home against Juve would almost always be an acceptable result, though given that the Old Lady currently, remarkably, sit in the relegation zone, perhaps Milan will feel they should have gotten more. Regardless, they now trail Inter on goal difference, +6 to +11 despite a tighter defense which has only conceded twice, tied with Napoli for the best defensive return in Serie A.
3 – Inter (+1)
The titleholders are back to their winning ways after a 6-1 thrashing of Bologna who had started the season in impressive fashion prior to this. Edin Dzeko scored twice in five second half minutes as Simone Inzaghi’s men hit three goals in each half to briefly take back top spot in Serie A before Napoli’s Monday win. Level on points with bitter rivals Milan, it seems a narrow midweek UEFA Champions League loss to Real Madrid did not damage their confidence.
4 – Roma (-3)
The feelgood factor surrounding Mourinho’s arrival has taken something of hit after Igor Tudor enjoyed the new coach bounce after taking over at Verona as his new side came back from 1-0 down to win 3-1. Like Inter, it appears the Giallorossi’s form in Europe, in their case a prolific start to their UEFA Europa Conference League campaign with a 5-1 win over CSKA Sofia, did not carry over domestically.
5 – Fiorentina (+2)
Vincenzo Italiano’s men are on the rise against after a 2-1 win over Genoa lifted them to fifth in the table with three wins from their four opening fixtures Riccardo Saponara and Giacomo Bonaventura each scoring once and setting the other up. Italiano’s ability to get this talented but underperforming Viola side firing will not have gone unnoticed. Now, however the real challenge begins as they host Inter and Napoli either side of a trip to Udinese.
6 – Udinese (-1)
Luca Gotti’s men have been one of the surprise revelations of the early Italian season, but they were unable to resist an insatiable Napoli side on Monday and conceded twice as many goals in one game as they had in three others up until that point. Blowout aside, if they can quickly dust themselves off against Roma, they are still in a good spot.
7 – Lazio (-1)
Two without a win now in Serie A, and three overall for Maurizio Sarri’s men who followed up a loss to Milan with a 2-2 draw with Cagliari after a midweek defeat to Galatasaray in the UEFA Europa League. Walter Mazzarri’s arrival played a significant role in Cagliari’s improvement, but the Biancocelesti will expect better of themselves against Torino and then in the derby against Roma.
8 – Atalanta (+1)
Gian Piero Gasperini’s men left it late to seal the win over rock bottom Salernitana through Duvan Zapata from a Josip Ilicic assist but they came away with the points and remain three points from the summit despite a tepid start to this campaign.
9 – Torino (+2)
A 1-0 win to follow on from their 4-0 thrashing of Salernitana and suddenly things look brighter for Ivan Juric’s side as they overtake their beaten opponents to take a midtable berth.
10 – Bologna (-2)
A 6-1 blowout at the hands of Inter drops Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men down a peg or two although they remain within reach of the two Milan sides and in the top half of the table.
11 – Sampdoria (+1)
After a slow start in their two opening matches, the Blucerchiati are now unbeaten in three with five goals scored across their last two outings alone. Now that they are back in the goals after their pummeling of Empoli, Roberto D’Aversa’s men can start looking at getting over the midtable hump in Serie A.
12 – Sassuolo (-2)
Without a win since opening day and with just one goal scored across the past three league games, things suddenly do not look so bright for Alessio Dionisi and his men.
13 – Verona (+6)
Tudor arrives and suddenly Verona are up and running for the season with as many goals scored against Roma as there had been against Sassuolo, Inter and Bologna combined. With Salernitana, Genoa and Spezia coming up next, there are some major points up for grabs.
14 – Genoa (-1)
A narrow defeat to Fiorentina wiped out the joy of the win away at Cagliari last time out and looking ahead they now face Bologna and Verona before Salernitana to enter the international break, a stretch which will test everyone with sides desperate to get points on the board and avoid getting sucked into a season long relegation dog fight.
15 – Spezia (+3)
Thiago Motta notched his first Serie A win in charge of Spezia with a 2-1 victory away at Venezia which will have given the team a real boost after their recent 6-1 pasting at the hands of Lazio.
16 – Juventus (-)
Massimiliano Allegri remains without a Serie A win since his return to Turin after Juve’s 1-1 draw with former club Milan and that is now the worst start to a league campaign since 1961-62 when they last failed to win in their four opening games. Had the Vecchia Signora not beaten Malmo in the Champions League, the heat would well and truly be on already. Even if Juventus struggle this season it’s hard to believe they’ll remain down near the relegation zone, let alone in it, and with Spezia, Sampdoria and Torino on deck, now is the time for them to recover and start putting points on the board.
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17 – Cagliari (+1)
The 2-2 draw with Lazio will be viewed as a start by Mazzarri who will be under no illusions as to the challenge ahead of him in Sardinia so points at home to Empoli and Venezia either side of a reunion with Napoli will be a must.
18 – Venezia (-3)
After finally getting a win on the board against Empoli, losing at home to relegation rivals Spezia undid that hard work ahead of a tough trip to Milan and then Torino at home.
19 – Empoli (-5)
It turns out that the win against Juve was a flash in the pan as Empoli shipped three goals for the second time this season an average of two per game over the opening four matches. Relegation form.
20 – Salernitana (-)
Another day and another loss. Despite Atalanta leaving it late, they still came away with the points and Salernitana are now scoreless in three games having lost all four with goals against already in double figures (12). This was closer than the Roma and Torino hidings, but that is about all you can say about it.