Napoli set sights on Milan, Lazio host Juve

SaturdayUS Pescara vs Siena 18:00 Atalanta vs Fiorentina 20:45 SundayPalermo vs Bologna 12:30 Chievo vs Catania 15:00 Cagliari vs InterTorino vs AS RomaGenoa vs SampdoriaParma vs UdineseMilan vs Napoli 20:45 MondayLazio vs Juventus 20:45 ROME – Title-chasers Napoli will look to maintain their purple patch against AC Milan on Saturday, when a win for the visitors and defeat for Juventus at Lazio could blow the title race wide open.A week after a 5-2 win over Torino, Napoli outclassed Genoa 2-0 last week to stay nine points behind leaders Juventus – a gap which most pundits feel is sufficient to secure the Bianconeri’s 29th title, despite having seven games to play.Juve face Lazio in the Olympic Stadium on Monday, five days after suffering a quarterfinal exit from the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich.Napoli forward Goran Pandev, who scored only his fourth goal of the season last week, believes, however, that returning from Milan with all three points is easier said than done.“It won’t be easy to leave San Siro with all three points, but it’s not impossible,” said the Macedonian.In Napoli’s favour is the absence of Rossoneri striker Mario Balotelli, who was handed a three-game ban in midweek for insulting match officials.The league’s top scorer earlier this season, El Shaarawy still has 16 goals but has dropped to third since Balotelli’s arrival, one behind Udinese veteran Antonio Di Natale and six behind Napoli’s Edinson Cavani.A win for Milan would take Massimiliano Allegri’s side to within one point of Napoli, who occupy the second and last spot for automatic Champions League qualification.Defeat for the Rossoneri, coupled with a Lazio win against Juventus, would boost Fiorentina and Lazio’s hopes of inching closer to third place, which offers a Champions League place through preliminary qualifying.