Inter and Lazio both won to stay level at the top of Serie A on 19 points after the matches of October 17 and 18, ESPN reported. Inter came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Bologna, with Marcus Thuram heading in the 44th minute and Carlos Augusto and Ange-Yoan Bonny scoring after Tommaso Pobega’s early opener. Lazio won 3-0 at Juventus through Oliver Provstgaard, Gustav Isaksen and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, in front of 41,112 fans. AC Milan beat Atalanta 3-2, with Gonçalo Ramos scoring a penalty, Roma beat Genoa 2-0 and Venezia beat Napoli 1-0, while Lecce won 3-0 at Udinese and Como won 3-1 at Fiorentina.
Inter’s case for being the favourites starts with the standings. They have six wins and a draw from seven games with no defeat, and their 21 goals scored are the most of the top six clubs in ESPN’s table, ahead of Roma’s 16, Lazio’s 14 and Milan’s 14. Their win at Bologna shows how they respond to setbacks: they trailed from the tenth minute, levelled before half-time, and scored twice more in the second half through Carlos Augusto, in the 69th, and Bonny, in the 83rd. An average of three goals a game is the highest in the division’s top six, and the comeback came away from home, in a ground where they had to score three times to take the points. Their goal difference of +12 is second only to Roma’s +13 among the top clubs.
The counter-argument is that Inter are not clearly ahead of their rivals. Lazio are on the same 19 points and have conceded only four goals, against Inter’s nine, and their 3-0 win in Turin was their sixth in seven games. Roma have not lost either, with five wins and two draws, and their goal difference of +13 is better than Inter’s +12, with only three goals conceded in seven games. Roma are two points behind on 17, and Milan, who have not lost, are four behind on 15, having just won a five-goal game against Atalanta through goals from Ramos, Adrien Rabiot and Mario Gila. Como, who beat Fiorentina 3-1, are fifth on 14 points with four wins, two draws and a defeat, and Cagliari, sixth on 13, have conceded only three goals, so the chasing group is strong.
The title race matters for Italian football because four clubs are still unbeaten, Inter, Lazio, Roma and Milan, with only four points between first and fourth. Juventus, on 11 points and eighth after the 3-0 defeat, are already being left behind, while Venezia, with three points from seven games and a goal difference of -10, are bottom. Fiorentina, on four points, are 19th after losing 3-1 to Como, who are fifth on 14 points. The league is competitive from top to bottom.
Inter and Lazio lead, but the figures show a tight race: Roma are only two points back and have the best defence. A weekend of wins keeps all four unbeaten clubs in contention, and the next round will decide whether anyone can pull clear.
