Leaders Inter Milan are seeking to banish a recent bout of nerves and move closer to the Serie A title at Siena on Sunday.
Inter's seemingly unstoppable march to their 15th championship has started to stutter over the last three games, in which they have notched up just two points.
They had the chance to wrap up the title with six matches to spare with a home win against second-placed AS Roma on Wednesday, but they went down 1-3 instead.
Inter's first defeat of the season left them with 81 points, which is still 13 more than Roma.
They now need to pick up six points in the final straight to be sure of taking the scudetto.
Inter coach Roberto Mancini said his side's big lead - 20 points at one stage - has caused them to relax a tad in recent weeks.
He also admitted that the scudetto jitters may have contributed to the Roma defeat.
"Everyone said the championship is over, which is true, but you feel a little fear when you are about to wrap it up," he said.
"It's like a tennis player who feels nervous on match point.
"But we should not let it get us down because we have played superbly up to now".
Inter will secure the title this weekend if they beat Siena (12th) and Roma lose at home to Atalanta (9th).
But the Roma camp have vowed to delay Inter's celebrations as long as possible.
Roma are spurred on by a desire to bounce back from the 7-1 thrashing they suffered at Manchester United in the Champions League last week and by captain Francesco Totti's ambitions of coming first in the top-scorer standings.
Totti scored Roma's second against Inter and took his goal tally for the season up to 21 - four more than his closest rivals, Livorno's Cristiano Lucarelli and Reggina's Rolando Bianchi.
Third-placed Lazio face a tough test against a Fiorentina side looking to consolidate seventh place and a UEFA Cup slot.
AC Milan (4th) entertain Cagliari (13th) at the San Siro Stadium on Saturday night.
Milan are expected to rest several regular stars ahead of Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg at Manchester United.
Milan have been in formidable form of late, scoring 11 goals as they won their last three games.
Empoli (5th) play host to Torino (15th), who have lost their last three outings.
Palermo (6th) are looking for their first win since the start of February at home to Parma (18th) on Sunday night.
There are four more Serie A matches this weekend: Sampdoria (10th) - Messina (19th) on Saturday evening; and Catania (14th) - Ascoli (bottom), Chievo Verona (17th) - Livorno (11th) and Reggina (16th) - Udinese (8th) on Sunday afternoon.
