Juve target landmark triumph

Nine-in-a-row
Fabio Capello's team could eclipse the great sides of 1930/31 and 1985/86 who began the campaign with eight successive wins, although the coach insisted: "I am not thinking about the nine consecutive victories; I'm purely focused on winning the Scudetto. The Milan clubs are still very close behind and both defeated difficult opponents on Sunday. The game against Sampdoria will be difficult but we want to beat them to maintain our five-point lead ahead of Saturday's match against Milan."

Trapattoni confident
The man at the helm in 1985, current VfB Stuttgart coach Giovanni Trapattoni, believes Capello's men are good enough to make the record their own. "I'm sure they can give their fans a prestigious record to celebrate on Wednesday," he said. Christian Abbiati and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are unavailable after collecting knocks in Sunday's 3-0 win at US Lecce, while Gianluigi Buffon, Jonathan Zebina, Lilian Thuram and Patrick Vieira remain sidelined.

Sampdoria strikes
However, the Bianconeri can take comfort from the fact they have scored 16 goals and conceded just two this term. Sampdoria, who will be without suspended forward Francesco Flachi, have registered an even more impressive 17 goals, while shipping a generous 13.

Milan trial
Elsewhere, second-placed Milan visit Empoli FC three days before hosting the leaders. The Tuscan side have won four of their last five games and Milan are still missing Andriy Shevchenko, who hopes to overcome his heel injury in time to face Juventus. Inter are six points off the pace in third as they prepare to tackle AS Roma.

Roman respect
Inter defender Walter Samuel will take on the team with whom he won a Scudetto in 2001, but is keen not to upset his friends in the capital. "Should I score, I will not celebrate," Samuel said. "I have too many friends there and feel I have to respect them. However, we have to win because Juventus and Milan are going too fast and we cannot afford to drop points if we want to compete with them until the end of the season."

Full programme
The other highlights of a full Serie A programme this evening include the Tuscan derby between AC Siena and fourth-placed ACF Fiorentina, with Viola old boy Enrico Chiesa coming up against Serie A top scorer Luca Toni.