Napoli vs Genoa 27/09/20

27 September 2020

The two sides that have enjoyed a stellar start to the 2020/21 Serie A season will lock horns at the Stadio San Paolo this weekend, as Napoli take on Genoa.

Gennaro Gattuso’s men clinched a comfortable 2-0 away win over Parma on Matchday 1, which means four of their previous Serie A results (wins/losses) have yielded a two-goal margin, with three producing the identical 2-0 scoreline. Curiously, both of Napoli’s goals against Parma came after the hour mark, which is in line with their habit of scoring after the half-time break. Indeed, the ‘Partenopei’ registered the majority (59.02%) of the 61 Serie A goals scored in the second half of play back in 2019/20 (36). Facing Genoa at home has often been a routine test for Napoli over the course of the past decade, as they’ve won seven of their 11 top-flight H2Hs held at this venue since 2010 (D4).

Meanwhile, a 4-1 thrashing of newly-promoted Crotone at home in their Serie A curtain-raiser means that none of Genoa’s previous nine league matches have ended in a draw (W5, L4), the 2019/20 season included. Notably, the last four such fixtures have yielded a winning/losing margin of at least three goals, with the previous three seeing the winner on the day win the first half via at least a two-goal margin. A potential worry for the ‘Griffins’ could be their inability to turn the tables after conceding the opening goal away from home. They failed to pick up a single win from 12 Serie A trips in which they shipped the opener back last season (D5, L7). In turn, Genoa lost five of seven away league games in which they were trailing at half-time in 2019/20 (D2).