Champions Inter Milan look to steady ship

Just like after the defeat against Roma in the Italian Super Cup and the embarrassing 1-1 home draw to Udinese in last weekend's Serie A opener, coach Roberto Mancini played down his side's early-season poor form.

 "The team's physical form doesn't worry me that much," said Mancini. "Our physical characteristics, compared to Roma, for instance, don't allow us a fast start.

 "If we add the injury suffered by (Patrick) Vieira and the delayed arrival of our south-American players (due to the Copa America), it is easy to explain our uncertain start.

 "And with Udinese we drew only because we were down to 10 men (following the dismissal of keeper Julio Cesar)."

   Inter take on Empoli on Saturday looking to keep pace with title contenders Roma, AC Milan and Juventus, all successful and convincing in their opening league games.

 Roma boosted self-confidence and gained praise from commentators after a 2-0 win away to Palermo and are likely to secure maximum points against Siena at the Stadio Olimpico Sunday.

 A Monday-evening affair awaits Milan at home to Fiorentina, after the European champions tackle Sevilla Friday for the European Super Cup, while on Sunday Juventus visit Cagliari in the island of Sardinia.

 Despite the many new arrivals, Juve have been quite convincing as they rejoined the top flight after a relegation stemming from their role in a wide match-fixing scandal. Their 5-1 drubbing of Livorno last weekend was followed in mid-week by a 3-1 win over Parma in the Italian Cup.

 In remaining Sunday action, Lazio are upbeat having secured a Champions League berth beating Dynamo Bucharest 3-1 and visit Sampdoria, who last week snatched a 2-1 win from Siena.

 Samp's fans look forward to cheer for new arrival Antonio Cassano, the unruly talented striker who returned to Italy after an indifferent stint at Real Madrid. His debut, though, is not likely to take place before mid-September.

 Atalanta take on Parma in Bergamo, Catania welcome promoted Genoa, Livorno host Palermo, Torino entertain Reggina, while newcomers Napoli are away at Udinese.

DPA