Seven strugglers in drop zone so far

The 2005/06 Serie A has already started to take shape. Eleven games into the season and Juventus and Milan have started to detach themselves from the rest.

Fiorentina are within the leaders' sights. Milan, Roma and then Juventus will shed further light on Fiorentina's title credentials when the Serie A resumes on Nov. 19.

Of course, then there are Inter. Roberto Mancini's team are playing better than last season but are lagging behind the favourites again. The ten points that currently separate them from Juve seem an abyss.

However, it is still premature for anyone to rule Inter out. They have to thread a series of successive victories and hope that the others drop points to get back in the hunt for a prize that has eluded them since 1989.

Fiorentina have taken the Serie A by storm after risking going down in 2004/05. But, I guess, one would be underestimating the good work of new coach Cesare Prandelli and the quality of the new players recruited if Fiorentina were to be touted as a surprise package.

The sides to confound the pundits in a positive manner are Chievo, Livorno and Empoli. All three were expected to struggle but, so far, they have been consistent and if they were to persist with their flawless start, they would end up fighting for a place in Europe.

Until a fortnight ago, Roma were in trouble but a draw against Lazio and three straight wins pushed them up to sixth in the standings.

Sampdoria and Palermo have the potential to do better. So far, they have been particularly erratic. Both are in mid-table but one expects them to improve as the competition intensifies. Lazio are also playing beyond expectations despite limited involvement in the summer transfers.

Udinese are level on points with Siena. They are perhaps one of the biggest underachievers in Serie A. It seems pretty evident that they are not equipped to face the double challenge of Champions League and Serie A at one go.

At the summit of the drop zone, which involves seven teams, one finds newcomers Ascoli. Marco Giampaolo's side have collected more points than other quoted teams like Cagliari and Lecce. Moreover, one has to bear in mind that Ascoli had approximately one week to prepare in view of their unexpected promotion to the top flight after the demise of Torino and Perugia.

Walter Mazzarri is doing a good job at Reggina. It is true that the southerners have one point less than they had after 11 days last season but it is equally true that a year ago they could count on players like Emiliano Bonazzoli, Shunsuke Nakamura, Mozart and Giuseppe Colucci.

Parma, too, have lost some key players but the most worrying aspect concerns the future of the club.

Lorenzo Sanz still has to take full control. Many think that once the Spanish tycoon takes over, he will inject the funds needed to put Parma back on their feet.

Bortolo Mutti's Messina have half the points they had last season with an unchanged squad. What is missing at Messina is self-determination and willpower to prove the pundits wrong.

Modest Treviso do not have points to show from their first five home outings. Any side harbouring aspirations to avoid the drop simply cannot forfeit points at their own backyard.

Like Ascoli, Treviso, too, had only a few days to assemble a Serie A squad. But there is a big difference in the way Treviso and Ascoli are performing at present. It looks like Ascoli have come to grips much earlier with the standards of Serie A really entails.

Cagliari are the only top division side without a win. Three coaching changes after the first three matches did not help. Life without Gianfranco Zola is proving to be very hard for them as the -10 points record with respect to last season testifies.

Bottom-placed Lecce have also resorted to the change of coach.

This time last year, Zdenek Zeman's Lecce had 16 points. This season, under the charge of Angelo Gregucci, Lecce only managed one point from five games.

Things under new coach Silvio Baldini did not improve either as the southerners collected only three points from the next six outings.

Serie A statistics

4th straight win for Fiorentina as they scored a goal in each half to hand Ascoli their first home defeat of the term. Tomas Ujfalusi's goal inside the opening minute had a devastating effect on Ascoli because they had to change the pattern of their game. Fiorentina had the best scoring opportunities but had to wait until the 62nd minute to close the game thanks to Luca Toni's 13th goal of the season. This was Fiorentina's fourth away win in 17 league visits to Ascoli - the first in 19 years. No draws have been registered between these two sides since October 27, 1991 (0-0 in Serie A). Fiorentina remain third, five points adrift of Juventus. After the weekend recess, Fiorentina's title credentials will be put under scrutiny by big guns Milan, Roma and Juventus in that order.

5th defeat on the trot for bottom-of-the-class Lecce as Silvio Baldini's side went down 0-2 at Parma. The last time Lecce came out of Parma with a positive result was on January 13, 2002 (1-1) whereas their most recent of two wins in 19 league visits to Parma dates back to December 16, 1984 (1-0 in Serie B). Ezio Rossi was on the brink of becoming the latest coaching casualty following Treviso's goalless away draw with fellow strugglers Cagliari. He was sacked on Sunday but on Monday, club president Ettore Setten had second thoughts and reinstated the ex-Torino mentor. Cagliari's last of three home wins over Treviso dates back to February 4, 2001 (3-2 in Serie B). Chievo's fairytale start continued on Sunday with a surprising 1-0 away win over Siena. For Beppe Pillon's side this was the third win in their last seven unbeaten games. Siena have never beaten Chievo in six home encounters and their most recent positive result against the Verona outfit came on June 10, 2001 (1-1 in Serie B).

8th successive league win for Milan as they trounced Udinese 5-1 to remain within sights of long-time leaders Juventus. Milan were by far the best team on the day and scored at regular intervals. After a promising start to the season, Udinese have been very erratic lately. For the record, this was Milan's second straight home victory over Udinese. The last time these two sides shared the spoils was on February 11, 1998 (0-0). Empoli continued to fly high as they demolished Reggina 3-0. For Mario Somma's men it was their fourth success in their first six home games. On the other hand, the upset was Reggina's fifth defeat in as many away outings this season.

10 points now separate Inter from leaders Juventus following the weekend results. Inter could not go beyond a 0-0 draw against Lazio at the Olympic Stadium. A dull opening was compensated for by a much more entertaining second half in which Inter were slightly better than the hosts. But still this was not enough to see them through. All Inter have to show from their last three outings are two draws whereas Lazio are winless in their last four games - three draws and a defeat.

21 goals were scored on the 11th day: 13 coming from the hosts and the remaining eight from the visitors. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 289. Fiorentina hit-man Luca Toni still leads the scorers' list with 13 goals (one from penalty). Alberto Gilardino grabbed the only brace of the weekend for Milan. Del Piero (Juve) and Vannucchi (Empoli) were the only two players who came on as substitutes and found the net. Two players - De Ascentis (Livorno) and Cossato (Chievo) - received marching orders. Meanwhile, two penalties were awarded by referees. Vincenzo Iaquinta made Udinese's heavy scoreline at the San Siro more respectable by converting a 60th-minute penalty. Elsewhere, Enrico Chiesa had a golden opportunity to hit an equaliser for Siena against Chievo but his 17th-minute penalty was saved by the evergreen Alberto Fontana.

39 years had to pass for Sampdoria to conquer Palermo's Renzo Barbera Stadium again as they scored a goal in each half to put an end to a four-match winless run and hand the Sicilians their first home setback in over seven months. Palermo had their moments but they were let down again by their Argentinian goalkeeper Mariano Andujar. Roma extended their bold comeback of late as they registered a third straight win. Their latest victims were Messina and for the giallorossi this was their first win at the San Filippo Stadium since December 13, 1964 (2-1 in Serie A). Juventus found it extremely hard to break down Livorno's tight defence but then scored three goals inside the last 30 minutes to record their sixth win in as many home outings this season. Livorno's fortress resisted until Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning 59th minute goal. From their 14 league visits to Turin, Livorno only have one draw (2-2 in December 1948) and a win (3-2 in January 1942) to show.