S.S.C. Napoli's league success has been well documented, their abundance of
attacking flair and free-flowing passing moves have been turning the heads of
football purists all season. They line up with an explosive front three of Dries
Mertens, Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne, supported by the club's all-time top
scorer sitting behind them, Marek Hamšík.
After crashing out of the Europa League on away goals to RB Leipzig, Napoli can now
fully concentrate on dethroning the mighty Juventus, who despite having Champions
League and Coppa Italia commitments, are still hot on the tail of the league leaders.
Massimiliano Allegri was proud of his team's valiant efforts in the 2-0 2nd leg
victory in Leipzig. Image via Twitter,
@sscnapoli.
Serie A and Roma legend
Francesco Totti has backed Napoli
to deny the Old Lady of a "monotonous" seventh straight title, making it no secret that wants to see new
champions. Many neutrals will agree with the Italian icon, as it has become routine
in recent years to see the legendary Gianluigi Buffon hoisting the trophy above his
head. But if Napoli can continue their recent form then we could see them rain on
Buffon's likely retirement parade.
One performance that epitomises the new Napoli was their scrappy 1-0 victory
over SPAL in a rainy Stadio Sao Paolo. Sarri was quick to highlight that this was the
kind of game in which they may have slipped up in recent seasons, but they seem to
have discovered a knack of grinding out three points from out-of- sort performances.
Having followed this result up with a 5-0 demolition of Cagliari, Napoli are back to
their free-scoring best and now priced at
10/11 in the Serie A betting to lift the title,
the same price as Juventus.
Hamšík rounded off a trademark Napoli move against Cagliari. Video via Twitter,
@btsportfootball.
The pivotal factor in this compelling title race could be the outcome Juventus'
Champions League visit to Wembley. After Spurs left the Allianz Stadium with a 2-2
draw in their last-16 first leg, Juve are now up against it to make the quarterfinals.
Should they be eliminated, then like Napoli, the Serie A title will become prioritised
in order to avoid what would be classed as a failure of a season by their standards. If
they were to advance in the Champions League then manager Massimiliano Allegri
will make sure to rotate his squad ahead of the midweek European clashes.
It's no surprise that Napoli's sole defeat in the league came at the hands of Juventus.
Ex-Napoli target man Gonzalo Higuain
got the winner in a trademark 1-0 win,
despite the Naples outfit having 67% possession and three times as many shots.
The April 22 will see Napoli visit Turin in a potentially decisive fixture and with both
teams conceding just 15 goals in their respective league campaigns it will likely be
another cagey affair. Napoli Manager Maurizio Sarri will emphasise the importance
of the games between then and now. If Napoli can remain ahead in the league then
it will place the pressure on Juventus to attack, opening up the game and playing into
Napoli's abilities on the counter.