Inspired by a flying start to the new calendar year, Napoli will resume their pursuit of table-topping Inter away to newly-promoted Venezia on Sunday. An encounter at the Stadio Pierluigi Penzo appears to be a prime opportunity for the Partenopei to whittle down the gap on Simone Inzaghi’s side to a single point.
Milan’s come-from-behind 2-1 victory in Saturday’s Derby della Madonnina has kept the Scudetto race wide open, handing Napoli a sudden chance to make life complicated for Inter. Despite boasting a game in hand on closest followers, the defending Serie A champions will start to feel the heat should Luciano Spalletti’s men fulfil their status as pre-match favourites in Venice.
Though depleted by a Covid-19 outbreak, Venezia nearly walked away from Meazza with a point last time out, but Edin Dzeko’s last-gasp winner gave Inter a 2-1 victory. And while their upcoming opponents battle tooth and nail to claim their first Scudetto since 1989/90, the Lagunari are facing a season-long fight against the drop.
Venezia vs Napoli Head-to-Head
Despite Victor Osimhen’s early expulsion at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Napoli cruised to a 2-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in August. Lorenzo Insigne and Elif Elmas were on the scoresheet beyond half-time to sink Paolo Zanetti’s side in the 2021/22 Serie A curtain-raiser.
The Partenopei are now unbeaten in their last seven Serie A meetings with Venezia (W4, D3), though it’s worth mentioning that six of those matches took place between 1946 and 1967. Indeed, Napoli’s last top-flight trip to Venezia dates back to 1942.
Though it’s nothing more than a piece of history, the Lagunari have failed to get on the scoresheet in any of their last four Serie A games against Inter. A goal here would be Venezia’s first against Napoli in Italy’s elite competition since 1962.
Venezia Preview
Venezia turned a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 defeat at Inter last time out, taking their winless streak in Serie A to nine consecutive matches (D3, L6). Much of the home side’s underwhelming run of form has to be pinned on a fragile backline that conceded an average of 2.3 goals per game across that spread of fixtures.
Still, the Lagunari sit one point clear of 18th-placed Cagliari despite conceding double their scoring tally this Serie A campaign. Curiously, Zanetti’s men have netted 20 league goals this season while shipping 40 in return. But a clear majority (65%) of Venezia’s top-flight goals scored this term arrived at home (13/20).
The hosts’ hopes of avoiding defeat here could hinge on Mattia Aramu, who has tallied an impressive five goals and three assists in Serie A so far this term.
Napoli Preview
Following a 1-1 draw at Juventus in their opening Serie A fixture of 2022, Napoli have strung together three successive league victories by an aggregate score of 7-1. But a lack of consistency away from home has seen the Partenopei alternate between wins and draws across their last four league travels (W2, D2).
Curiously, Spalletti’s men have slotted home a league-high 12 goals inside the opening 15 minutes of second halves this Serie A campaign. Their scoring proficiency stretches far beyond that timeframe, with Napoli bagging an average of 1.9 goals per Serie A away game this term. Yet, it’s worth noting that they’ve netted under 1.5 goals in two of their last three league travels.
With Osimhen back to the fold after a long-term injury, Dries Mertens could return to the bench. However, the Napoli all-time highest scorer has registered the second-best minute-per-goal ratio in Serie A since early November (93).
Venezia vs Napoli Predicted Lineups
Venezia (4-3-3): Sergio Romero; Ethan Ampadu, Mattia Caldara, Pietro Ceccaroni, Cristian Molinaro; Domen Crnigoj, Tanner Tessmann, Michael Cuisance; Mattia Aramu, Gianluca Busio, Thomas Henry.
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Alex Meret; Mario Rui, Juan Jesus, Amir Rrahmani, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Diego Demme, Stanislav Lobotka; Adam Ounas, Piotr Zieliński, Matteo Politano; Dries Mertens.