Aiming to claim a third straight win at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli welcome 18th-placed Empoli in Monday’s Serie A action, seeking the maximum points in the gameweek 32 contest.
Antonio Conte‘s men, who held Bologna to a 1-1 draw last time out, could not exploit Inter Milan blowing a 2-0 lead at Parma to draw 2-2 but aim to get the better of injury-hit visitors, who could leave the bottom three with a win in Naples.
Match preview
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While Napoli halted Bologna’s six-match winning streak at Dall’Ara Stadium on Monday, the Partenopei could not take advantage of Inter dropping points at Parma, leaving the second-placed side three points behind the defending champions.
Although the Emilia-Romagna outfit are no slouches on their turf, the outcome continued the inconsistent form shown by the 2023 champions since the start of February.
Conte’s team ended January with a 2-1 triumph over Juventus, marking their seventh consecutive victory, but have clinched just two wins in the following nine matches.
Both successes have come in their most recent matches at the Maradona — 2-1 wins over Fiorentina and AC Milan — and they strive to secure a third straight win in front of their supporters for the third time this season.
With Inter playing first this weekend — Simone Inzaghi‘s men host 15th-placed Cagliari — Napoli could enter Monday’s match either six points adrift or with an opportunity to close the gap again, and fans at the Maradona will welcome the chance to return to winning ways on home turf after dropping points in Emilia-Romagna.
Nevertheless, the title contenders’ failure to keep a clean sheet in five matches at the Maradona — Conte’s men have recorded three 2-1 wins over Juventus, Fiorentina and Milan and have played out two 1-1 draws with Udinese and Inter — should give Empoli some confidence going into Monday.
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Further adding to the away side’s optimism are their victories in recent visits to the Maradona, notching 1-0 wins in 2021-22 and last season, interspersed with the Partenopei’s 2-0 success in the 2022-23 campaign.
Thus, Roberto D’Aversa will hope for another strong showing from Azzurri Empolesi in Naples, with a third win in four possibly taking the Tuscany outfit out of the bottom three.
Empoli, in 18th, trail Lecce by two points with seven games remaining and could leapfrog the Salentini after this round if Marco Giampaolo‘s team are beaten by Juventus this weekend.
While that outcome in Turin is a possibility, Empoli must do their part if the Old Lady beat the Apulians by throwing a spanner in the works of Napoli’s title bid.
However, an eight-match winless run away from home (with five defeats) undermines their chances of getting the better of the title-contending hosts.
Team News
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Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa both picked up yellow cards in the Bologna draw and will serve one-match bans on Monday.
Missing through injury for Conte are Alessandro Buongiorno (muscle), Leonardo Spinazzola and Nikita Contini, both of whom have reported injuries.
Having missed out against Bologna because of illness, Alex Meret will be assessed before Monday; Simone Scuffet, who played against the Emilians, is on standby for the home side.
Despite scoring 11 times this season, no player in Serie A has scored more match-winning goals than Romelu Lukaku‘s six, and the Belgian aims to add to his decisive contributions in gameweek 32.
D’Aversa has a plethora of injury worries to contend with: Tino Anjorin‘s muscle complaint will be evaluated, but Ardian Ismajli (thigh), Christian Kouame (knee), Marco Silvestri (finger), Nicolas Haas (knee), Pietro Pellegri (knee), Saba Sazonov (knee), Szymon Zurkowski (knee) and Youssef Maleh (knee) are all in the wars.
While Sebastiano Esposito (eight goals) has outscored Lorenzo Colombo (five), the latter has netted two match-deciding efforts to Esposito’s one ahead of Monday’s trip to Naples.
The pair’s attacking influence for Empoli is highlighted by Esposito contributing 33.3% of the struggling side’s 24 league goals, while Colombo has been involved in 20.8% of their strikes.
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Scuffet; Mazzocchi, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Olivera; Gilmour, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Lukaku, Neres
Empoli possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Goglichidze, Marianucci, Viti; Gyasi, Grassi, Henderson, Pezella; Esposito, Cacace; Colombo
We say: Napoli 2-1 Empoli
While Napoli are seven unbeaten at the Maradona since December, four of their five wins have been by one-goal margins.
Although the Partenopei have not scored three goals in any game in front of their supporters since October, facing a side with Empoli’s away record suggests that the title contenders should claim maximum points on Monday, even if the home crowd might expect another nervy encounter.
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