Napoli vs Cremonese

Napoli will be looking to translate their sublime Serie A form to Coppa Italia when they meet Cremonese at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Napoli made perhaps a crucial step toward ending a 33-year wait for the Scudetto by demolishing record-time Serie A champions Juventus 5-1 at the weekend to go nine points clear at the summit. Having won back-to-back league matches by multi-goal margins since losing 1-0 at Inter Milan at the start of the calendar year, ‘I Partenopei’ will relish their chances of making it out of the Coppa Italia round of 16. More so as they meet an out-of-sorts Cremonese side they thumped 4-1 in Serie A earlier this season. Though Luciano Spalletti may use this clash as an opportunity to give his first-team stars a well-deserved rest, Napoli should have no problems dispatching ‘La Cremo’ after winning their last ten home outings in all competitions.

In the meantime, Cremonese’s hopes of avoiding a swift Serie B return took another blow at the weekend as Monza defeated them 3-2, leaving Massimiliano Alvini’s men as the only side in Serie A yet to pick up a win after 18 rounds (D7, L11). They can at least find some comfort in ending a four-game scoring drought in Serie A. But if they’re to defy the odds and arrest an underwhelming run of four consecutive league defeats, the visitors must improve at the back. In addition to failing to keep a clean sheet on any of their nine domestic travels this season, they’ve conceded precisely twice in their last four competitive away games, suggesting Napoli’s free-flowing attack may have a field day.