Serie A leaders Inter Milan are aiming to take advantage of tough matches for rivals Juventus and AC Milan to stretch their already large lead at Bologna Saturday.
Jose' Mourinho's outfit travel to the Emilian capital with a nine-point lead over Juve and an 11-point lead over their cross-city rivals after last week's 2-1 derby win.
Bologna are in 16th place and while they have drawn eight times in 24 games, mostly at home, Inter will be confident of a result after resurgent Brazil striker Adriano escaped a ban for handling the derby opener.
But Bologna's outspoken Serb coach Sinisa Mihajlovic has promised his old club a warm welcome.
The former Lazio defender, who was Roberto Mancini's assistant during Inter's three championship-winning years, has already clashed with Mourinho over the quality of the Portuguese coach's team compared with the side coached by him and Mancini.
On Thursday he said: ''I'll go back to Milan ready to shake everyone's hand, but I'm not sure if they'll do the same to me''.
Inter are without suspended defenders Christian Chivu and Nicolas Burdisso.
Juventus travel to 8th-placed Palermo on Saturday night with Brazilian striker Amauri returning to the Sicilian capital for the first time since his summer move to Turin.
Amauri, whose personal record 15 goals for Palermo last year helped seal the Juve deal, has said he will not celebrate if he scores against his old club.
''Out of respect for the club that enabled me to make this leap I don't think I'll celebrate if I score. They treated me like a king,'' he told Juventus Channel.
Amauri is awaiting an Italian passport and is unlikely to get a Brazil call-up after Brazil coach Dunga was unhappy with his failure to become available for the Italy friendly this month.
With a possible Italy future in the offing, the Brazilian has performed even better than last year, scoring 12 goals including Juve's equaliser in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Sampdoria, his first since December 21.
David Trezeguet said Thursday he was ''ready'' to partner Amauri in his first start for months.
Milan host 7th-placed Cagliari on Sunday knowing that the Sardinians are playing some of the best football in Serie A just now.
Carlo Ancelotti is hoping Kaka will be back after a foot injury kept him out of the derby defeat while the club is hoping David Beckham's move will be resolved early next week.
Striker Filippo Inzaghi is on a high after becoming joint top scorer, with Raul, in European club competition history with Wednesday's UEFA Cup opener in a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen.
But club owner Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian premier, scolded the squad Thursday, saying he was ''appalled'' when Milan conceded the equaliser.
However, he was full of praise for Beckham, hailing his ''geometric'' play.
Fiorentina, three points behind Milan in fourth place, entertain second-from-bottom Chievo while fifth-placed Genoa, a point behind the Florentines, travel to 10th-placed Napoli.
Sixth-placed Roma, a point behind Genoa, host 13th-placed Siena with a drastic shortage in midfield.
Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta were already suspended when Alberto Aquilani came down with an injury Thursday.
Also felled in Thursday's training session was striker Mirko Vucinic.
Inter, Juve and Roma are playing on Saturday to give them more time to get ready for Champions League last 16 first legs against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
