Back to Serie A duties following a successful Champions League journey to Eintracht Frankfurt, runaway Serie A leaders Napoli head to Empoli on Saturday. Though the upcoming trip to the Stadio Carlo Castellani may look like a walk in the park on paper, the hosts deserve the benefit of the doubt.
With only two points separating Empoli from tenth-placed Udinese at the start of this round, the home side’s bid to secure a first top-half finish in Serie A since 2015/16 looks to be heading in the right direction. But since upsetting the odds in a stunning 1-0 win at runners-up Inter in January, Paolo Zanetti’s men have drawn three of their last four league matches (L1).
Despite that rough patch, Gli Azzurri have only lost one of their eight league outings in 2023 (W2, D5) and sit comfortably 11 points clear of the drop zone. Highly-rated goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario deserves the credit for Empoli’s current position in the standings as he’s been one of the revelations this season.
Vicario pulled off numerous incredible stops to help Empoli hold fellow Tuscan rivals Fiorentina to a 1-1 draw last weekend. His services will likely be in high demand on Saturday when free-scoring Napoli touch down at Carlo Castellani after sweeping ten-man Frankfurt aside 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
Victor Osimhen and Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored on either side of halftime to render Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty miss in the first half unimportant. After putting one foot in the quarter-finals, Luciano Spalletti’s high-flyers can switch their attention to domestic commitments.
A whopping 15 points clear of nearest competitors Inter, Napoli should waltz away with a long-awaited Scudetto regardless of the outcome at Carlo Castellani. But given the visitors’ outrageous form, not even the bravest souls would dare to bet against them.
Preview
Empoli
There’s a substantial gulf in class between the sides, yet Empoli seem to have found a recipe to keep Napoli quiet at Carlo Castellani. Zanetti’s men have only lost one of their nine home meetings with the Partenopei in Serie A (W4, D4), winning the last two in a row despite conceding on both occasions.
Unbeaten in five straight league games in the lead-up to this clash (W2, D3), Empoli could string together six top-flight matches without losing for the first time since 2016. Connoisseurs of action-packed football will be looking forward to this fixture. Empoli’s last two home outings have ended 2-2, highlighting the potential for a high-scoring contest.
Player to Watch: Francesco Caputo
The 35-year-old Francesco Caputo has proved age is just a number in his case, tallying one goal and three assists in eight Serie A appearances this term. He also knows in-depth about scoring against Napoli, having netted twice against the Partenopei in the top-flight.
Napoli
If there was a time for Napoli to defy their ‘Castellani jinx,’ it’s now. Spalletti’s men have won seven consecutive league games since a 1-0 defeat at Inter at the turn of the year, with six of those triumphs coming by multi-goal margins, including a 2-0 win at Sassuolo last Friday.
What’s more, each of the visitors’ last three Serie A victories has come by 2+ goals ‘to nil,’ meaning they could go four successive league matches without conceding for the second time under Spalletti. As the league’s most prolific team with 56 goals to their name, Napoli will feel firmly in the driver’s seat to post their first win at Empoli since 2017.
Player to Watch: Victor Osimhen
Serie A top-scorer Osimhen has been on a tear in 2023, scoring in his last seven league starts. The Nigerian striker transferred his domestic form to Europe, breaking the deadlock at Frankfurt, as was the case on Napoli’s latest league travel.
Team News
Mattia Destro and Lorenzo Tonelli face a race against time to recover for Saturday’s fixture. Luckily for Empoli, they are the only injury doubts ahead of this game.
Like their hosts, Napoli have stayed largely fit despite a tight schedule, with Giacomo Raspadori the only sidelined player in the visiting camp.
Empoli vs Napoli Potential Lineups
Empoli (4-3-1-2): Guglielmo Vicario; Tyronne Ebuehi, Ardian Ismajli, Sebastiano Luperto, Fabiano Parisi; Liam Henderson, Razvan Marin, Alberto Grassi; Tommaso Baldanzi; Nicolo Cambiaghi, Francesco Caputo.
Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Kim Min-jae, Mario Rui; Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Elif Elmas; Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Empoli vs Napoli Prediction
Despite Empoli’s aura of invincibility this calendar year, we’d back Napoli to win any day of the week.
Prediction: Napoli Win
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