Soccer / Football : Italy : Serie A 2007/2008

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Juventus 9.5 : Juventus have confirmed that striker Vincenzo Iaquinta will miss the rest of the Serie A season with a thigh injury. The 28-year-old was injured in training last month. Scans at the start of the week suggested Iaquinta was on the road to recovery, before Juventus chose not to risk playing him since the team cannot improve on their third-place standings. He has scored eight goals in 24 league appearances this campaign.

Fiorentina 7.5 : Fiorentina's leading scorer Adrian Mutu will miss the remainder of the Serie A season. The Romanian international striker has been suspended for two games by the Italian Football League for his sending off in last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Cagliari. Mutu has scored 17 goals in 29 games this season and his absence is a huge blow for Fiorentina in a battle for the last spot for next year's UEFA Champions League.

Livorno 7.5 : Serie A bottom club Livorno's faint hopes of staying up have been hit after three players were banned for the rest of the season having angrily charged towards Atalanta's dressing room following las weekned's 3-2 defeat. The Italian Football League said in a statement it had suspended Alessandro Grandoni, Emanuele Filippini and Giovanni Pasquale and added that David Balleri, Antonio Filippini and Simone Pavan were banned for Sunday's game at relegation threatened Torino.

Milan 6.5 : Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has put pen to paper on a four-year contract with Milan starting at the end of this season. The 24-year-old Frenchman, whose Arsenal contract will expire in June, joined the London giants in 2004 from Marseille and went on to appear in 102 top-flight matches. Flamini has enjoyed his most consistent season in English football, making 30 Premier League starts and forming a strong midfield partnership with Cesc Fabregas.

Inter 5.5 : Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could return to action next weekend. "Perhaps I can play even as early as next Sunday," he told a local newspaper after a training session in the southern Swedish city of Malmo. Ibrahimovic, who suffered a knee injury in March, is also confident he will be fully fit for the European Championship in June.

4.5 : Inter will have to wait at least one more week for their third straight Serie A title after losing to city rivals Milan 2-1 Sunday. Filippo Inzaghi scored his ninth goal in the last five games and Inter's lead at the top of Serie A was halved to three points with two matches remaining. The victory moved Milan into fourth place, one point ahead of Fiorentina, and into the last spot for next year's UEFA Champions League.

Second-placed Roma defeated Sampdoria 3-0 and they have 78 points, followed by Juventus, who lost 1-0 at Siena, with 70 and Milan with 60. In the relegation zone, Parma moved to within one point and one place of fourth-from-bottom Catania with a 1-0 home defeat of Genoa. Udinese won 1-0 at second-from-bottom Empoli, while basement side Livorno conceded an 88th-minute goal to lose 3-2 at Atalanta.

Fiorentina 3.5 : Christian Vieri was diagnosed with a pulled leg muscle Friday. He will be out for up to four weeks, meaning he will miss the Viola's final three games of the Serie A season. Vieri will reportedly move to another club for next season. Fiorentina holds a two-point lead on AC Milan in the race for fourth place and Italy's final Champions League berth.

Livorno 29.4 : Coach Fernando Orsi has been reappointed by Livorno with a brief to save the club's top-flight status in their last three games of the season. The 48-year-old coached Livorno for the first seven rounds of the campaign, but was then fired after failing to win a game. So, Orsi replaces the man who had succeeded him, Giancarlo Camolese. Livorno are last in in the Seria A standings with 30 points, four points away from the safety zone.

last results

home win - draw - away win (1-x-2)

Italian Serie A : 46% - 29% - 24%