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Fiorentina, Roma ready to pounce if Inter slip up

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, right, of Inter Milan celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against CSKA Moscow during their UEFA Champions League match at the San Siro in Milan, Italy, on Wednesday. PHOTO: EPA

Fiorentina and Roma will be keeping a hopeful eye on the Serie A clash between league leaders Inter Milan and Lazio at the San Siro tomorrow.

On paper Roberto Mancini's side should extend their lead in the Italian first division, especially as Lazio are languishing beyond mid-table with only two wins from 11 matches.

Fiorentina and Roma, however, will be hoping Inter's recent injury woes contribute to them dropping points against Mancini's former club.

Fiorentina's promising start to the season has left them within sight of taking over the Serie A lead.

Still the only unbeaten side in the league along with Inter, the Florence-based side are only two points adrift of the lead and host Udinese hoping to claim an easy three points themselves.

Striker Adrian Mutu will be itching to pull his scoring boots back on having been rested for last week's win against Lazio.

Luciano Spalletti's Roma meanwhile will be determined to make up for their disappointing 2-2 draw with Empoli last week, a result which has left them in third place three points behind Inter.

Those hopes will be buoyed by the fact that their Sardinian visitors, Cagliari, have won only twice at the Olympic stadium in 28 games.

Despite the likelihood of Fiorentina and Roma harboring secret wishes for a draw, or Lazio upset, in Milan Inter's recent form suggests that is unlikely to happen.

Last season's corresponding fixture at the San Siro saw Inter win a seven-goal thriller 4-3, but Lazio have not won at the San Siro since a 5-3 victory in October 1998.

Lazio's existing injury woes deepened when Luciano Zauri took a knock during the game with Werder Bremen.

He joins Stefano Mauri, Mobido Diakhite, Sebastiano Siviglia, Simone Del Nero and Goran Pandev on the sidelines, although Macedonian striker Pandev is battling to recover in time.

Inter have injury woes of their own, having lost Luis Figo after the Portuguese midfielder fractured his fibula in a clash with Pavel Nedved during the 1-1 draw at Juventus last Sunday.

Figo will be out for approximately two months, joining Patrick Vieira, Dejan Stankovic, Francesco Toldo and defender Marco Materazzi on the sidelines.

That leaves Mancini with a midfield dilemma and the Italian coach also has to decide whether Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz or David Suazo partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic in attack.

One player unlikely to feature is party-mad Brazilian Adriano, who was told last week to tone down his off-field behavior if he wants to regain his place in the side.
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