The Japan Times - In-form Inter face Serie A title test at Roma

Cristian Chivu has led Inter to five straight wins in all competitions, but their trip to the capital will pitch them against spiky opposition who jointly lead Italy's top flight with champions Napoli.

Roma have conceded just twice in their opening six league fixtures and are level on 15 points with Napoli at the top of the division.

Inter are three points behind that pair, with three consecutive league wins over Sassuolo, Cagliari and Cremonese putting them in fourth, ahead of Juventus -- who are at high-flying Como on Sunday -- on goal difference.

Chivu has one major absence, with Marcus Thuram still out with the hamstring injury he picked up against Slavia Prague last month.

But he has handy back up in another Frenchman Ange-Yoan Bonny, who was key to Inter's most recent win against Cremonese just before the international break.

And captain Lautaro Martinez is fresh from another goalscoring outing with Argentina, his brace against Puerto Rico taking his tally for club and country this season to eight.

Thuram is pushing to be available for next weekend's clash at Napoli, after which Inter will know whether they are realistic contenders for the Scudetto.

That is not something that would have been considered a given once Inter chose Chivu, whose only previous senior managerial experience was in the final months of last season with Parma, to replace Simone Inzaghi.

The former Romania defender was a surprised choice to take over Inter and will face a test of his coaching mettle against Gian Piero Gasperini and then Antonio Conte next week.

Roma have ridden their luck to keep pace with Napoli, as goalkeeper Milar Svilar has stepped up several times already this season and allowed Gasperini's new team to get away with some below-par displays.

Napoli meanwhile have what should be a straight-forward task at Torino just before Inter take on Roma, with Italian pair Matteo Politano and Alessandro Buongiorno set to return from injury.

Nestled between Inter and the leading pair are AC Milan, two points from the summit ahead of Sunday night's fixture with struggling Fiorentina who are yet to win in Serie A this season and have Italy striker Moise Kean sidelined with injury.

Milan will be without Christian Pulisic and Adrien Rabiot, with France midfielder Rabiot risking a month-long absence with a calf injury.

Player to watch: Rafael Leao

Once the undisputed star of the AC Milan team, Leao has had a bumpy start to the season, not helped by a calf problem which he picked up just before the start of the campaign.

But the Portugal winger needs to step up for Milan now that Pulisic has suffered a right hamstring injury, with the American set to undergo tests on Friday.

Pulisic could be sidelined for a month after playing in two friendlies despite having an ankle problem, a situation which has irritated Milan as the winger has already scored six goals and set up two more this term.

Leao is set for his first league start of the season after two poor efforts as a substitute against Napoli and Juventus, and coach Massimiliano needs the wing wizard back to his best.

Key stats

5 - Inter's winning run since last-gasp defeat at Juventus last month.

2 - The number of goals conceded by Roma in the opening six rounds of the season.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Saturday

Lecce v Sassuolo, Pisa v Verona (1300), Torino v Napoli (1600), Roma v Inter Milan (1845)

Sunday

Como v Juventus (1030), Cagliari v Bologna, Genoa v Parma (1300), Atalanta v Lazio (1600), AC Milan v Fiorentina (1845)

Monday

Cremonese v Udinese (1845)

T.Kobayashi--JT