Serie A is back in action this weekend as Hellas Verona’s 2024/25 league season kicks off at Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi against Napoli on Sunday. Both teams fell short of their seasonal goals last term and will look to make things right under new managers this year.
Verona spent almost the entire last season stranded in the lower reaches and forced to fear about their top-flight status. They looked doomed midway through the campaign, especially after a dozen first-team stars left the club amid financial turmoil last January.
However, Verona kept their heads above water and secured a respectable 13th-place finish under the stewardship of Marco Baroni. He’s no longer in charge of the Gialloblu, having taken charge of Lazio earlier in the summer.
Baroni took highly-rated forward Tijjani Noslin with him on his way out, hindering Verona’s effort to better last season’s paltry return of 38 league goals. The veteran manager’s successor, Paolo Zanetti, couldn’t have hoped for a worse way to start his tenure.
Second-tier Cesena crashed Verona out of the Coppa Italia last weekend, courtesy of a 2-1 win at this stadium. That paints a bleak picture for Zanetti as his men meet Napoli on the opening Serie A weekend. Like Verona, the former Italian champions have undergone massive changes.
After sacking three managers last season, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has chosen Antonio Conte to lead the team’s revival. The Partenopei’s title-defending campaign went wrong as they finished 10th in Serie A last term.
Without the distraction of European football, Conte can focus on bringing Napoli back into the top-four picture on his Serie A return.
Match Preview
Hellas Verona
There’s ample room for improvement at Bentegodi after Verona finished only three points off the bottom three last term. Despite all the trouble, they upheld their top-flight status for a sixth consecutive season. Keen to exorcise demons from the past, they will seek a winning start against Napoli.
However, that’s often been an unattainable task for Verona. They’ve got the better of Napoli only once across their last 15 minutes (D3, L11). That disastrous run includes a thumping 5-2 defeat at this venue in the opening round of the 2022/23 season. But the hosts hope lightning cannot strike twice.
Encouragingly, Verona got the 2023/24 Serie A season underway with a 1-0 win against Empoli. In order to replicate that feat, Zanetti’s side must rediscover their home form after finishing the last campaign with back-to-back winless league outings at Bentegodi (D1, L1).
Napoli
Last season left Napoli fans with more questions than answers. The club had to settle for their third-worst top-tier finish since the turn of the century, going down in history as one of the worst-ever defending Scudetto holders. They finished the campaign 41 points below table-topping Inter.
Therefore, it’s unsurprising De Laurentiis went for someone like Conte. Only a coach of a certain stature and knowledge can turn things around in Naples. Conte fits the bill. His first assignment on the new job is to address a dire record that saw Napoli win only twice across their last 12 away league matches (D5, L5).
On a more positive note, Napoli have emerged victorious from their last three league visits to Verona, tallying ten goals in those triumphs. There’s another good omen. Delivering goods from the get-go, they’ve won every opening Serie A game since drawing 2-2 at Pescara in 2016/17.
A draw is an unlikely scenario here. None of Verona’s last 14 home encounters against Napoli in Serie A have ended level, a run stretching back to 1988.
Team News
Verona are still without talented forward Juan Manuel Cruz, who spent most of last season on the sidelines with a long-term injury. However, high-profile newcomers Abdou Harroui, Casper Tengstedt, Daniel Mosquera, and Grigoris Castanos are fit for the opening weekend.
As for Napoli, Victor Osimhen is the only notable absence. He’s still waiting for a resolution of his future after requesting to leave the club at the end of last season. Conte can call upon summer arrivals Alessandro Buongiorno and Leonardo Spinazzola.
Hellas Verona vs Napoli Potential Line-ups
Hellas Verona (4-2-3-1): Lorenzo Montipo; Yllan Okou, Giangiacomo Magnani, Diego Coppola, Jackson Tchatchoua; Ondrej Duda, Suat Serdar; Darko Lazovic, Abdou Harroui, Tomas Suslov; Casper Tengstedt.
Napoli (3-4-2-1): Alex Meret; Alessandro Buongiorno, Amir Rrahmani, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Leonardo Spinazzola, Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Pasquale Mazzocchi; Matteo Politano, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia; Giacomo Raspadori.
Hellas Verona vs Napoli Prediction
Napoli needed a penalty shootout to beat Modena in last weekend’s Coppa Italia tie following a scoreless draw in regulation. Conte’s side failed to create many chances in regulation time, and they could encounter identical problems against Verona.
Zanetti’s defensive approach could frustrate Napoli as they still wait for the arrival of Romelu Lukaku. Without an out-and-out striker to break Verona’s defensive lines, Conte may need to settle for another uneventful stalemate.
Prediction: Draw
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