Napoli v Inter Match Result
It’s easy to see why Inter Milan have been installed as favourites to win this Saturday teatime clash at the Diego Maradona Stadium. They now sit top of the Serie A table by one point although with a superior goal difference, with the bookies rating them as a stronger team than Napoli, despite the fact that Inter were beaten at Juventus in their previous away game.
More recently, they secured a 1-0 win over Genoa and they’ll now look to end a winless run of three away games considering that there was a 1-1 draw in Milan derby before a shock 3-0 defeat at Fiorentina. In their recent away defeat in Turin, they only mustered two shots on target compared to their opponents’ eight and perhaps they’re opposable for this encounter.
However, Napoli have been fluffing their lines under Antonio Conte in the past few weeks. Having drawn three consecutive matches against Roma, Udinese and Lazio, the Azzurri were strong favourites to claim a maximum against Como although they fluffed their lines after being downed by Assane Diao’s winner after levelling early in the game.
Out of the four games that comprise this winless run, only one was played at home and it should be noted that they were denied victories thanks to late equalisers from Roma and Lazio. Perhaps Napoli are capable of bouncing back and they do have a fantastic record on home soil where only eight goals have been conceded.
If the contest if a tight one, then the draw could be a viable runner and we know that Antonio Conte is capable of edging an encounter with his tactical knowhow, throwing open the title race once again.
Goals Under/Over
Under 2.5 Goals is trading as the narrow favourite and it’s certainly the way that we would go with this bet. The bookies think that there’s a 58% chance that two goals or less will be scored, with the teams playing out a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture. On that occasion, Scott McTominay’s opener at the San Siro was cancelled out by Hakan Calhanoglu before half-time although there were no further goals.
The two previous encounters between these two Italian giants have also ended with two goals or less, with a 1-1 draw being played out at the San Siro in March and that came after Inter edged the encounter at the Diego Maradona Stadium by a single goal. The fact that Napoli have such a strong defensive record means that Unders looks the way to go.
However, the previous two clashes involving the Naples team have ended with Over 2.5 Goals, although the last pair of Inter games have seen a 1-0 defeat at Juventus followed by a 1-0 victory against Genoa.
BTTS
The bookies can’t call whether both teams will find the net or not. One school of thought is that we’ll have a tight clash with neither side wanting to concede the opening goal. With so much at stake, it’s easy to see defences being on top. However, we have seen both teams play out 1-1 draws this season in what have been tight encounters.
We should also note that the previous six clashes involving Napoli have seen BTTS Yes being an outcome. There was a thrilling 3-2 victory at Atalanta and the trend has continued, with the Azzurri scoring fifteen goals in their previous eight encounters. Therefore, it’s plausible that they will notch at least one against their title rivals.
As for Inter Milan, they know that they can take a decisive step towards the title in this clash and will surely go looking for the goals that can help them achieve this. However, three of their previous four encounters have been BTTS No and their first port of call will be to withstand the onslaught that might come from Napoli in the first few minutes.
First Goalscorer
It was Lautaro Martinez who scored the only goal of the game against Genoa, with the Argentine ending a run of four games without finding the net in that game. The forward previously enjoyed a string of five encounters where he was on the scoresheet, with that culminating in a hat-trick against Monaco. We think he’s a good option to break the deadlock here.
Marcus Thuram has recently been on the sidelines and the Frenchman is now facing a race to be fit for this crunch clash, although his quality can’t be underestimated. The forward has scored thirteen top-flight goals this term and would dearly love to be involved in a game which could have such a big bearing on the outcome of the title race.
As for Napoli, Scott McTominay continues to pose a threat, especially from set pieces due to his aerial ability. The Scot has seven goals on the board, although it was Giacomo Raspadori who was on the scoresheet away to Como and that means it’s two goals from two games for the Italian international.
Romelu Lukaku will line up against one of his former clubs and the Belgian is capable of getting in on the act, with No Goalscorer another viable option considering a low-scoring clash could be on the cards.