Sunday’s Serie A action caps off with a handsomely-looking encounter between Napoli and Monza at the Diego Maradona Stadium. Both teams come into proceedings in high spirits after thumping victories in midweek Coppa Italia action.
Antonio Conte’s mission to rebuild Napoli from scratches following a humiliating Scudetto-defending campaign in 2023/24 remains on course after a sloppy start. The Partenopei tore second-tier Palermo to pieces on Thursday, strolling to a 5-0 triumph on this ground as Scott McTominay scored his first goal on the Italian peninsula.
It was another morale-boosting result for Napoli after a stubborn defensive performance earned them a 0-0 draw at Juventus last weekend. Little did anyone know Conte’s team would trail table-topping Torino by only a point after five league rounds, considering they slumped to a humiliating 3-0 defeat at Hellas Verona on the opening weekend.
However, Conte’s well-documented tactical and motivational prowess has since turned Napoli’s fortunes around. Three wins from their last four top-flight outings should keep the spirits high around the home camp ahead of Monza’s visit to Naples. The visitors travel south in a buoyant mood themselves.
Alessandro Nesta’s charges trounced Serie B outfit Brescia 3-1 in the Coppa Italia on Thursday to find a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. There’s no space for celebration as they swiftly return to league action, where they’ve yet to win this season (D3, L2) despite some promising showings.
Match Preview
Napoli
Conte has quickly developed a habit of taking points in home matches. Napoli opened their league campaign at the Maradona Stadium with a thumping 3-0 victory against Bologna before performing a memorable stoppage-time comeback to beat newcomers Parma 2-1 last time out.
Both games saw Napoli score precisely two second-half goals. It was also the case in their abovementioned thrashing of Palermo. Despite turning their engines a bit late, the hosts will take the field confident of defying their recent scoring woes against Monza.
Napoli picked up three points in the last Serie A clash against the Biancorossi with a goal-glutted 4-2 triumph at the Brianteo. However, they had failed to find the net in their two previous league meetings with the Lombard club (D1, L1), including a scoreless draw in this corresponding fixture last December.
Monza
A 2-1 home loss to Bologna last weekend left Monza as one of only two winless Serie A teams after the opening four rounds. Nesta’s side barely avoided sitting at the bottom of the table heading into this matchday, largely thanks to Cagliari’s disastrous start under Davide Nicola.
But Monza’s underwhelming points haul doesn’t paint the whole picture. They dropped a two-goal cushion in a frustrating 2-2 draw against Fiorentina on their last Serie A travel before being pegged back late in a 1-1 home stalemate against reigning champions Inter.
Those were bitter pills to swallow, considering the Biancorossi were up beyond the 85th minute on each occasion. There’s no time to dwell on the past as Monza take this trip amid a woeful seven-game winless run in away league matches (D4, L3).
Unless they score their first-ever Serie A goal on this ground, the crisis can only go from bad to worse.
Team News
With first-choice goalkeeper Alex Meret still on the sidelines after suffering an injury last weekend, Elia Caprile will remain a deputy between the sticks. Fortunately for Napoli, the Italian stopper is the only high-profile absentee alongside the banished veteran Mario Rui.
As for Monza, injuries to Samuele Birindelli, Patrick Ciurria, Roberto Gagliardini, Samuele Vignato, and Alessio Cragno paint a bleak picture, especially now that Dany Mota is at risk of missing out due to a muscular problem. Nesta may call upon Gianluca Caprari to fill the void in the final third.
Napoli vs Monza Potential Line-ups
Napoli (3-4-3): Elia Caprile; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Alessandro Buongiorno, Mathias Olivera; Scott McTominay, Stanislav Lobotka, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa; Matteo Politano, Romelu Lukaku, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Monza (3-4-2-1): Stefano Turati; Armando Izzo, Pablo Mari, Andrea Carboni; Pedro Pereira, Warren Bondo, Matteo Pessina, Giorgos Kyriakopoulos; Daniel Maldini, Gianluca Caprari; Milan Djuric.
Napoli vs Monza Prediction
Another painful evening for Monza fans looms on Sunday as we back Napoli to maintain their purple patch with a multi-goal margin win against Nesta’s out-of-sorts charges.
Prediction: Napoli to Win
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