Back from their trip to Saudi Arabia, Lazio and Napoli go head-to-head in Sunday’s handsomely-looking Serie A encounter at the Stadio Olimpico. Depleted by a growing list of unavailable players, the visitors take this daunting trip severely weakened.
Despite piecing together an impressive four-game winning streak in Serie A for the first time in 2023/24, Lazio’s trip to the Middle East for Supercoppa Italiana duties went terribly wrong. Maurizio Sarri’s side slumped to a humbling 3-0 defeat to Inter in the semi-finals, with the ex-Napoli manager describing the tournament as a ‘gold-digging event.’
Lazio will hope that loss won’t impede their momentum in league action after reducing the gap on fourth-place Fiorentina to a single point. Felipe Anderson’s second-half winner propelled Biancocelesti to a 1-0 home triumph against Lecce last time out, putting his side in a favorable position to repay Napoli the favor for recent upsets in the capital.
Though this is a seemingly downtrodden Partenopei side, the reigning Serie A holders can take confidence from winning their last two top-flight visits to the Olimpico by the same 2-1 scoreline. But that’s perhaps the only positive, even though they eked out a last-gasp victory against relegation-threatened Salernitana in their most recent league outing.
Napoli, too, proved incapable of keeping up with high-flying Inter as Lautaro Martinez’s stoppage-time strike condemned them to a 1-0 loss in the Supercoppa Italiana title-deciding fixture. Frustration boiled over late as Walter Mazzarri, furious with refereeing, refused to attend the post-match ceremony.
Match Preview
Lazio
Sarri identified his Lazio side as ‘mentally soft’ following the abovementioned thumping at the hands of Inter. However, the impending home return should consolidate their spirits as they’ve racked up ten victories across their last 12 games at the Olimpico (D1, L1).
Defensive solidity has been the backbone of Lazio’s sterling form in the capital. They have kept a clean sheet in eight of their last ten home assignments across all competitions (W8, D1, L1). But six of their eight wins in that sequence yielded a narrow 1-0 scoreline.
While that rules out the potential for a high-scoring contest, recent meetings between Lazio and Napoli tell a different story. Biancocelesti’s 2-1 triumph in the reverse fixture was the fifth of their last six league encounters to produce at least three goals.
Napoli
Amir Rrahmani’s injury-time winner squeezed Napoli past Salernitana 2-1 in their last Serie A match, ending their disheartening three-game winless league streak (D1, L2). Despite experiencing one of the worst title-defending campaigns in Serie A history, Mazzarri’s men can still salvage this season.
With only three points separating them from the coveted fourth spot at the start of this round, a potential win at Lazio would strengthen Napoli’s position in a fiercely-contested top-four race. However, the visitors have lost their last three away league games without reply, most recently going down 3-0 to Torino.
Staring down the barrel of a four-game losing run in away league action for the first time since 2015, Napoli must defy a personnel crisis to topple their decent-performing hosts.
Team News
Reliable defender Patric is the only injured player in the Lazio camp. But Sarri can’t call upon the services of Ciro Immobile and Mattia Zaccagni as they accumulated yellow cards during an ill-tempered clash against Lecce last time out.
As for Napoli, Jens Cajuste, Giovanni Simeone, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are out due to suspension, while Victor Osimhen and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are with their national teams at the Africa Cup of Nations. Alex Meret, Natan, and Mathias Olivera are on the sidelines with injuries.
Lazio vs Napoli Potential Lineups
Lazio (4-3-3): Ivan Provedel; Manuel Lazzari, Mario Gila, Alessio Romagnoli, Adam Marusic; Matteo Guendouzi, Nicolo Rovella, Luis Alberto; Gustav Isaksen, Taty Castellanos, Felipe Anderson.
Napoli (3-4-3): Pierluigi Gollini; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Juan Jesus; Pasquale Mazzocchi, Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski, Mario Rui; Matteo Politano, Giacomo Raspadori, Cyril Ngonge.
Lazio vs Napoli Prediction
Given what’s at stake, this showdown has all the makings of a season-defining fixture for both teams. None of the last 14 matches between Lazio and Napoli have ended level. Every streak must come to a halt, and we believe the two sides will buck this trend on Sunday.
Prediction: Draw
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