Sunday’s Serie A programme closes out with a lopsided contest between pacesetters Napoli and dead-last Cremonese at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Despite a substantial gulf in class between the sides, the hosts know better than to underestimate their out-of-sorts visitors.
Taught by a recent Coppa Italia experience, Napoli cannot take anything for granted despite coming into proceedings on the back of five straight league wins. Indeed, Luciano Spalletti’s side crashed out of the domestic cup competition at the hands of La Cremo, falling short on penalties. That should be a thoughtful lesson for the runaway Serie A leaders.
Retaliation for a woeful Coppa Italia exit could serve as a powerful motive, with Napoli looking to strengthen their position at the top. Inspired by Victor Osimhen’s second-half brace, the Partenopei trounced bottom-half Spezia 3-0 on the road last weekend, maintaining a healthy 13-point lead on second-placed Inter.
While only a once-in-a-lifetime miracle or a catastrophic earthquake could impede Napoli’s bid to put a stop to an exhausting 33-year Scudetto wait, Cremonese find themselves in a contrasting situation. After going winless in the first 21 Serie A rounds (D8, L3), the visitors are seemingly not long for top-flight football.
Another failed attempt to grab three points would see Cremonese become only the fifth side in Serie A history to play the first 22 top-flight games without ever winning. Needless to say, all four previous teams to have experienced that infamous feat have suffered relegation at the end of the season.
Preview
Napoli
A keenly-contested 2-1 win over Roma in their last home league outing took Napoli’s outrageous winning top-flight streak at the Maradona to eight matches. Another triumph would see Spalletti’s men register nine consecutive Serie A victories on home turf for the first time since 2016 under Maurizio Sarri.
All competitions included, only perennial Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have lost fewer games than Napoli (two) this season, testifying to the hosts’ remarkable form in 2022/23. The Partenopei thrashed Cremonese 4-1 in the reverse fixture in October and could beat them twice in a row in Serie A for the first time in history.
Player to Watch: Victor Osimhen
It’s always him! Only Manchester City goalscoring machine Erling Haaland has netted more non-penalty goals than Osimhen (16) across Europe’s top-five leagues. The talismanic frontman has found the net in his last five Serie A appearances.
Cremonese
New Cremonese boss Davide Ballardini helped the hottest relegation candidates hold Bologna to a 1-1 away draw on his touchline debut. But he has since overseen back-to-back Serie A defeats, including a dismal 2-0 home loss to fellow promoted rivals, Lecce, last weekend.
As the only side in Serie A yet to hit double-digits in terms of points (eight), Cremonese start this round ten points adrift of safety. That margin looks bridgeable in theory, but the visitors’ abysmal return of five points from ten league travels this term (D5, L5) firmly rules out that possibility.
Player to Watch: Felix Afena-Gyan
Felix Afena-Gyan has been a marginal figure since swapping Roma for Cremonese down the final stretch of the summer transfer window. But though he’s yet to score in Serie A this term, his late strike helped La Cremo overcome Napoli in the Coppa Italia last month.
Team News
As if boasting home comforts wasn’t enough to lift the spirits in Naples, Spalletti’s men have no injury concerns heading into this fixture.
In stark contrast, Cremonese will be without the likes of Christian Acella, Cristian Buonaiuto, Luka Lochoshvili, and Giacomo Quagliata.
Napoli vs Cremonese Potential Lineups
Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kim Min-jae, Amir Rrahmani, Mario Rui; Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski; Hirving Lozano, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Cremonese (3-5-2): Marco Carnesecchi; Matteo Bianchetti, Vlad Chiriches, Johan Vasquez; Leonardo Sernicola, Soualiho Meite, Michele Castagnetti, Charles Pickel, Emanuele Valeri; Cyriel Dessers, Daniel Ciofani.
Napoli vs Cremonese Prediction
This really is a no-brainer.
Prediction: Napoli Win
 |
Follow us on Google News for more updates on Serie A and Italian football |