Beleaguered and surely outgoing Serie A defending champions Napoli host cellar-dwelling Salernitana in their first game of 2024 at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday.
The round 20 match sees Walter Mazzarri's men seeking a response to last weekend's 3-0 mauling at Torino, while Filippo Inzaghi's men are still disappointed after the events of the closing minutes in the marginal 2-1 to Juventus in gameweek 19.
Match preview
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The managerial change has done little good to Napoli, with Mazzarri struggling to eke out consistent performances from last season's Scudetto winners, underscored by last week's damaging 3-0 loss to Torino.
That loss began the New Year on a dispiriting note for the Partenopei, who have lost four of their recent six league games — a 2-1 home win over Cagliari.
Napoli's only other league victory with Mazzarri in charge came at Atalanta BC in late November, and the inconsistency showed by last season's league winners leaves them ninth in Serie A.
Be that as it may, the Azzurri are just two points behind Lazio in sixth and five shy of fourth-placed Fiorentina, so rising in the table is not far-fetched if they string wins together.
That remains to be seen with this group, especially with growing injuries, suspensions and absences due to international commitments.
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As for Salernitana, Inzaghi's team could not extend their undefeated streak to three after Dusan Vlahovic netted a late second-half stoppage time header to seal a 2-1 win for Juventus at the Granata's expense.
The club from Salerno have had a week to prepare for Saturday's trip to Naples, and they should back themselves to secure a positive result over a team that has struggled for performances and results in their title defence.
Inzaghi's men did secure their only away league victory of 2023-24 in their recent road game at Hellas Verona, but that was followed by a 6-1 beatdown at Juventus to start 2024.
That tendency to fail on their travels had them as the worst away side in Serie A, but the win at the Bentegodi means their wretched road fortunes better only Frosinone (two points) and Cagliari (three points).
While Saturday's game is tricky to predict, Inzaghi's men have no reason to fear the beleaguered defending champions and should be confident in their gameweek 20 prospects.
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Team News
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Victor Osimhen and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa are away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria and Cameroon respectively, ruling out the pair this weekend.
Pasquale Mazzocchi, a January arrival from Salernitana, was sent off four minutes into his debut at Torino and is absent in gameweek 20.
Alex Meret (hamstring), Natan Souza (shoulder) and Mathias Olivera (knee) are missing this weekend's game because of separate injury worries.
Giulio Maggiore received a soft second yellow when Salernitana were 1-0 up against Juventus, ruling out the midfielder this Saturday.
Lorenzo Pirola (thigh) and Grigoris Kastanos (knee) are absent until next month through injury; the hamstring problem that saw Boulaye Dia replaced in Senegal's AFCON 2023 squad should keep him out for several weeks.
Lassana Coulibaly and Jovane Cabral are away at the Cup of Nations with Mali and Cape Verde respectively.
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Gollini; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Jesus, Rui; Cajuste, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Raspadori, Kvaratskhelia
Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Costil; Daniliuc, Gyomber, Fazio; Sambia, Candreva, Logowski, Botheim, Bradaric; Tchaouna, Simy
We say: Napoli 1-1 Salernitana
Regardless of the 16-point difference between the sides, one victory in five at the Maradona (three altogether in 23-24) means Saturday's game with Salernitana is not guaranteed to end in a Napoli victory despite the Granata's broader away woes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.