Napoli play Udinese at the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday in a matchup that could see the hosts go top of Serie A.
Compared to the other three teams competing for top spot over the weekend, the Partenopei should have the easiest time of it: Udinese sit 15th in the league table, having won just three of their opening 11 games.
Coach Maurizio Sarri will be hoping to bounce back from a 0-0 draw against Genoa last weekend, the only speedbump his Napoli side have encountered since hitting their stride in late September.
Prior to that match against the Rossoblu, Napoli had won seven straight matches in all competitions and were challenging for a spot alone atop the league table. That sterling run of form is a direct result of Sarri’s improvements to his team on both sides of the ball. Napoli have conceded the second fewest goals after Inter and scored the second most after Roma so far this season.
Some encouragement will no doubt be found with their 5-0 victory in the Europa League on Thursday against Danish champions Midtjylland, a win accomplished despite most of the regular starting XI being rested.
Udinese might feel emboldened a bit themselves by a recent run of relatively good form. Two of their three wins have come since the end of September, and their only loss came at the hands of an on-fire Roma side.
Perhaps the most encouraging takeaway from their modest hot streak is the fact that that 3-1 loss to Roma is the only time Udinese have conceded more than one goal in a game since the 3-2 loss to AC Milan on September 22. However vaunted it might be, Napoli’s attack might find it difficult to break down Udinese.
Three of the past six meetings in all competitions between the pair have ended in draws, with each side taking a win from the other last term in Serie A.
Napoli will be able to field a mostly full strength squad with the possible exception of a still-recovering Dries Mertens. Udinese can’t count themselves as lucky: they could be without all of Alexander Merkel, Panagiotis Kone, Duvan Zapata and Antonio Di Natale on Sunday.
Form Guide: Napoli (W-W-W-D-W) Udinese (D-D-W-L-D)
Expected Starting XIs:
Napoli: Reina; Ghoulam, Koulibaby, Albiol, Hysaj; Hamsik, Jorginho, Allan; Insigne, Higuain, Callejon
Udinese: Karnezis; Wague, Danilo, Felipe; Edenilson, Badu, Lodi, Iturra, Adnan; Fernandes; Thereau
Infographic courtesy of Sporticos.com
