Five Key Stats from Week 8 in Serie A: How Giuseppe Rossi destroyed Juventus

4. Catania crisis deepens

The darlings of Serie A last season, the Elefanti slumped to a fifth defeat this term against Cagliari, dooming coach Rolando Maran to the sack in the process as former Genoa boss Gigi De Canio takes the reins at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.

Catania have failed to contend with the loss of influential playmaker Francesco Lodi and wing wizard Alejandro Gomez over the summer, ranking dead last in Squawka Attack Score this season on 368 and creating the third-fewest chances in the Italian championship to date with 56.

Indeed the Sicilians were equally impotent in Sunday’s clash at the Stadio Sant’Elia, completing only 72% of their passes, taking a pithy seven shots, and picking out a team-mate with only five of 24 crosses.

De Canio will in turn have his work cut out for him to revitalise an attack that lacks continuity and inventiveness whilst also needing to restore the confidence of a defence that has committed four errors that have led to opposition goals already in 2013-14.