Napoli vs Hellas Verona

Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is the venue as reigning Serie A champions Napoli take on hot relegation candidates Hellas Verona in a must-win fixture.

Napoli’s disastrous title-defending Serie A campaign hit a new low last weekend as they failed to record a shot on target in top-flight action for the first time since 2012 in a tepid 0-0 draw at Lazio. Stuck just inside the upper half of the standings, Walter Mazzarris’ men are still somehow in a top-four picture, trailing fourth-placed Atalanta by four points at the start of this round. Taking points at home shouldn’t be a problem for ‘I Partenopei’ as they’ve gone unbeaten in their last three home league games (W2, D1). That’s not to mention they’ve not lost to Verona on home turf since 1983, mustering an eye-catching 24-game unbeaten streak in such fixtures since (W16, D8).

On the other hand, Hellas Verona’s financial turmoil forced the club to offload as many as 12 first-team players during the January transfer window, including talismanic forward Cyril Ngonge, who has joined Napoli. However, Marco Baroni’s side showed resilience in their last Serie A assignment, holding Frosinone to a 1-1 home draw to stay marginally outside the bottom three. But with nothing but goal difference separating them from 18th-placed Cagliari, ‘I Gialloblu’ can’t afford a slip-up to stay afloat. Having avoided defeat in just three of their 11 away league matches in 2023/24 (D2, L8), the visitors seem destined to fail again, especially after losing their last three such contests via a single-goal margin.