Napoli vs Torino

Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is the venue as Napoli and Torino go head-to-head in an exciting Serie A showdown.

Despite one of the worst title-defending campaigns in Serie A history, reigning Scudetto holders Napoli have shown signs of life lately, beating Torino’s crosstown rivals Juventus 2-1 last weekend to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to five matches (W2, D3). Now three points adrift of sixth-placed Atalanta, ‘I Partenopei’ could temporarily bridge the gap on the European spots with a win here. Achieving that target would see Napoli post a third consecutive league victory for the first time this season! However, facing teams from the upper half of the table spells trouble for Francesco Calzona’s side, as they’ve only won two such contests this season (D3, L7). But winning three of the last four top-flight H2Hs they’ve hosted (D1) will inspire confidence in the home camp.

In the meantime, Torino held Fiorentina to a goalless home draw last weekend despite being reduced to ten men late in the first half. But that hardly settled fans’ nerves, with Ivan Juric’s men remaining stuck in mid-table after picking up just one win in their last six league outings (D3, L2). Scoring under 1.5 goals in four of those six games can only strengthen the visitors’ fears of extending their dreadful run of 11 consecutive winless away H2Hs versus Napoli (D4, L7). On the bright side, ‘I Granata’ ran out 3-0 victors in the reverse fixture, posting their first H2H win in 17 attempts (D4, L12). However, the visitors are winless in seven of their last eight Serie A matches on the road (D4, L3), failing to find the net on four occasions.