Sunday’s Serie A action concludes at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, as Napoli and Inter Milan go head-to-head in a highly anticipated fixture. Both sides have hit the purple patch heading into the encounter that could prove decisive to the home side’s hopes of landing Champions League football.
Napoli eased past Sampdoria 2-0 last time out in response to a 2-1 defeat at Juventus in their postponed Matchday 3 showdown as they take the field trailing fourth-placed Atalanta by two points. The Partenopei have now won five of their previous six Serie A fixtures, three of which via a two-goal margin.
Since going down 2-1 to Spezia in their first home Serie A game in 2021, Gennaro Gattuso’s men have hit the ground running in Naples, winning all six subsequent home league matches by an aggregate score of 18-4.
A first-half advantage may well wrap up this encounter for Napoli, considering the hosts boast a 100% win rate in games that saw them lead at the interval this season (W14). However, after going unbeaten in 13 top-flight meetings with Inter at home (W9, D4), the Partenopei lost this exact fixture 2-1 last season and now face the risk of suffering back-to-back defeats in such contests for the first time since 1997.
In the meantime, the Nerazzurri head into proceedings on the back of 11 consecutive Serie A triumphs, a sequence that saw them extend their lead on second-placed Milan to 11 points. Away from home, Antonio Conte’s men have gone undefeated in seven Serie A matches on the bounce (W5, D2) since a 2-1 upset at Sampdoria on January 6.
Notably, the runaway Serie A leaders have scored the joint-high 30 goals on the road this league campaign, with 67% of those strikes in the second half. Indeed, Inter’s attacking set-up usually sparks into life after half-time, with the visitors netting a league-high 34 goals beyond the hour mark this season.
As ever, starting well will be a priority, especially given that Inter have won 91.67% of the Serie A games in which they were ahead at half-time in 2020/21 (W11, D1).