Pressure will be on Napoli to keep within striking distance of first place when they visit struggling Udinese at the Dacia Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Zebrette have slipped down the Serie A table to a worrying 16th place, three points ahead of the dreaded 18th spot, currently held by relegation-bound Palermo. The Partenopei meanwhile, continue their fight at the top of the table and remain in 2nd place, three points behind leaders Juventus. A whopping 36 points separate the two sides.
Udinese have been marred in a terrible run of form, with only a single victory in their last 12 matches, a 2-0 victory against bottom-feeders Hellas Verona in late February. New coach Luigi De Canio managed to achieve an impressive 1-1 draw against Sassuolo in his first match in charge and the former Genoa boss will be hoping that this result will provide a morale boost to the club looking to distance themselves from the drop zone.
After a disappointing February which saw them go winless in five matches across all competitions, Napoli seem to have rediscovered their form and are victorious in three straight, including a 3-1 win triumph Genoa before the international break. With Juventus in action the night before, coach Maurizio Sarri knows he may well need to rally his troops who at kick off could find themselves six points off the pace.
This fixture has traditionally been a tight affair, with Napoli holding the slight edge in victories with nine to Udinese’s eight with a further 11 draws since the 1993/94 season. Napoli edged November’s reverse fixture winning 1-0 at the Stadio San Paolo courtesy of a second-half goal from Gonzalo Higuain.
Neither side are facing any disciplinarian action this weekend. The Zebrette will be forced to make do without the injured Guilherme and Alexander Merkel while the Azzurri will likely be without the services of goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
Form Guide: Udinese (L-W-D-D-L) Napoli (D-D-W-W-W)
Expected Starting XIs:
Udinese: Karnezis; Heurtaux, Danilo, Felipe; Widmer, Fernandes, Kuzmanovic, Hallfredsson, Armero; Zapata, Thereau
Napoli: Gabriel; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne
