Napoli vs Venezia

Napoli will look to strengthen their grip on the Serie A throne when they lock horns with warm relegation candidates Venezia at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

Back-to-back defeats to Lazio in the Coppa Italia and Serie A served as a wake-up call for Napoli. Antonio Conte’s men have since strung together consecutive league wins ‘to one’ and will aim to cap off 2024 on a high. Only three points adrift of Atalanta ahead of the kick-off, ‘I Partenopei’ can draw level with the Serie A leaders with a win against a Venezia side they defeated 2-0 in both top-flight H2Hs in 2021/22. However, the hosts can’t take anything for granted after their last four home league outings fluctuated between victories (2) and defeats (2). Interestingly, three of those four matches yielded an identical 1-0 scoreline, highlighting the potential for a low-scoring affair. Nonetheless, Napoli are in pole position to get into the win column, especially given their impressive 13-game unbeaten streak against newly promoted clubs (W8, D5).

In the meantime, Venezia must punch above their weight to pull off their first top-flight victory against Napoli since 1942! Despite being deeply embroiled in a relegation scrap, the visitors can draw confidence from a three-match unbeaten run (W1, D2), bookended by a 2-1 home win against fellow bottom-half rivals Cagliari last weekend. However, manager Eusebio Di Francesco is yet to find a cure for Venezia’s travel sickness. Indeed, they’ve picked up a league-low three points across nine away league games this season (D3, L6), conceding a dismal average of 2.11 goals per match. On the bright side, they proved they can be a thorn in anyone’s side by holding Juventus to a 2-2 draw on their last road trip.