Napoli will be determined to take maximum points and, with it, the lead in Serie A when they host AC Milan at the Stadio San Paolo on Monday evening.
Following a demoralising 1-0 defeat to Juventus last week seeing them drop to second, the Bianconeri’s 0-0 draw with Bologna on Friday has presented the Partenopei the opportunity to reclaim the advantage in the Scudetto race.
Standing in their way is the continually improving Milan outfit who remain unbeaten in their last nine matches.
The Rossoneri have made a late surge for the European positions and come into the game five points behind their cross-town rivals, Inter.
Despite the run of form, the Milanese side make the difficult trip to Naples, somewhere they have not won since October 2010, at the worst possible time.
Having lost back-to-back matches for the first time this season, Napoli will have all the motivation they need to return to the winner’s circle.
The home team will know that Juventus are unlikely to provide many opportunities thus will be unwavering in their pursuit of the three points and a slender one point lead in the Serie A.
The recent head-to-head record reads largely dim for the visitors who have beaten Monday’s opponents just once in their last nine meetings, with Napoli taking out five of those clashes.
In the last two fixtures played, the Partenopei produced emphatic 4-0 and 3-0 victories in this season’s October meeting and last season’s corresponding match respectively.
Having only played second half cameo roles in their midweek Europa League loss to Villarreal, Gonzalo Higuain, Lorenzo Insigne and Allan will likely return to the starting line-up.
Held scoreless for back-to-back matches for the first time this season, both Higuain and Insigne will be eager to return the team to their regular goal-scoring ways.
Meanwhile, midfield maestro Jorginho will also return to the starting XI following his midweek omission, with Maurizio Sarri boasting a full strength squad.
For the visitors, Sinisa Mihajlovic may be without central defender Alessio Romagnoli who is suffering from the flu with Cristian Zapata likely to take his place if required.
The former Roma defender would join Philippe Mexes and Rodrigo Ely on the sidelines for Milan.
Form Guide: Napoli (W-W-W-W-L) AC Milan (D-W-W-D-W)
Expected Starting XIs
Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne.
AC Milan: Donnarumma; Abate, Alex, Zapata, Antonelli; Honda, Montolivo, Bertolacci, Bonaventura; Bacca, Niang.
Infographic source: www.sporticos.com
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com