After this week’s wins over Udinese and Sampdoria, Napoli are enjoying a rare solo lead. The last time it happened was in March 2018, with Maurizio Sarri at the helm, over 1000 days ago. The Partenopei had started with five wins in a row only twice in their history, in 1987-99 and 2017-2018. Luciano Spalletti is the only coach to do it in his first year on the bench, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.
After the second four-nil win, Napoli have bagged 14 goals and conceded just twice. Going back to last season, they have remained undefeated for 14 matches. It is the club’s second-longest streak. The top one reached 26 fixtures between March and November 2017.
Napoli have been highly productive offensively since Victor Osimhen returned from a shoulder injury. They have hit the net in 31 straight Serie A contests, with a total of 74 goals, 2.39 per game on average. The last time they failed to find the target was in December 2020 against Lazio. Only Juventus and Milan had managed to get past the 30-match threshold in Serie A in this regard.
Osimhen is coming off his second brace in a row after punishing Leicester twice. But Napoli have relied on several contributors, as ten players have already put their name on the stat-sheets. The Nigerian striker commented: “I am happy for these goals and performances. It is too bad that COVID and injuries affected me last season. Spalletti helps me a lot, he trusts me, and the best way to pay him back is to score.”