An under-strength Juventus will be bidding to keep Fiorentina at bay in Serie A's biggest match this weekend.
Third-placed Juve struggled through February and the fourth-placed Florentines closed the gap to four points with Wednesday night's 1-0 win against Livorno.
On Tuesday night Juve could only manage a draw in an ill-tempered Turin derby against Torino which saw Czech winger Pavel Nedved red-carded and Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini yellow-carded.
Both will miss the Sunday afternoon game in Turin. Adding to the absentee list is ex-Italy midfielder Cristiano Zanetti who is serving out a two-match ban for a red in last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Reggina.
After the Reggina match Juve complained to the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) about an alleged series of refereeing mistakes.
FIGC replied on Thursday, saying there could be ''no doubt'' about the good faith and high standards of refs.
On a brighter note for Juve, France striker David Trezeguet should be fit for the Fiorentina game after a bout of the flu.
''I hope to make it for Sunday,'' the France forward told the club website.
Trezeguet, stuck on 15 goals for the season, was overtaken as Serie A top marksman Wednesday night by Genoa's recent Italy call-up Marco Borriello, who scored a penalty in Genoa's 2-0 win over Napoli.
Fiorentina's Romanian star Adrian Mutu is in joint fourth spot with Inter's Zlatan Ibrahimovic on 14 strikes but will miss the Juve game through injury.
The Florentines leapfrogged back into fourth slot, two points clear of AC Milan, after Milan could only draw 1-1 against Catania Wednesday night.
The European champions play 12th-placed Lazio in Saturday's late match.
Despite their keenness to catch Fiorentina again, they may rest key players like World Player of the Year Kaka' ahead of Tuesday's Champions League last 16 second leg against Arsenal in Milan.
Milan held the Premiership giants 0-0 in the first leg. At the top of Serie A, second-placed Roma looked set to reopen the title chase as they surged forward to add to a Francesco Totti goal against leaders Inter in Milan on Wednesday night.
But the champions notched a late equaliser through captain Javier Zanetti after Roma defender Philippe Mexes picked up a second yellow card, leaving the gap between the clubs unchanged at nine points.
Switchboards at Roma fan stations were roaring with rage Thursday at the referee and an alleged failure of Sky TV commentators to emphasise the perceived harshness of the ref's decision.
Several callers said they were going to tear up their subscriptions. Sky executives protested to the Italian Soccer League after Roma shock jocks distributed email addresses of the commentators.
Roma play Parma at home on Saturday afternoon with one eye on Wednesday's Champions League return leg against Real Madrid, where they hold a 2-1 lead.
Inter's second leg against Liverpool, who beat them 2-0 at Anfield, has been postponed until March 11.
But they may still decide to leave out first-choice strike partners Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz, who have just recovered from injuries, for Sunday's late trip to 11th-placed Napoli.
