Napoli will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the Serie A season when Bologna visit Stadio San Paolo on Thursday night.
Bologna sit ninth in the table with 12 points to their name, having registered three wins, three draws and three losses so far.
Napoli, on the other hand, find themselves first – 13 points clear of Bologna – after picking up eight wins and a draw.
Luciano Spalletti’s side won each of their opening eight Serie A games this term, scoring a whopping 17 goals along the way.
They dropped their first points of the campaign on Sunday, however, as Roma held them to a goalless draw in the capital.
Napoli have conceded a measly three goals this season, giving them the best defensive record in Italy’s top tier.
Spalletti’s men have kept six clean sheets across their first nine league matches, meaning they boast a shutout rate of 66%.
Thanks to a solid end to the previous campaign, Napoli are unbeaten in their last 18 Serie A encounters.
It is also worth noting that Napoli have lost just one of their past 25 league outings, winning each of their previous four on home soil.
On the flip side, Bologna have only managed to win three of their last 23 away games in the Italian top flight.
Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men have also won three of their nine Serie A matches this season, underlining their inconsistency.
Having conceded a whopping 19 goals already this term, Bologna have one of the worst defensive records in the division.
In fact, only the bottom four teams in the table have conceded more goals than Bologna – emphasising their defensive struggles.
Head-to-head: Bologna have managed to win just two of the previous 11 Serie A encounters with Napoli, suffering eight defeats during that period.
Remarkably, 13 of the past 16 Serie A meetings between the teams have produced over 2.5 goals – meaning we should see plenty of action on Thursday.
Team news: Napoli currently have three injury absentees, with winger Adam Ounas, full-back Kevin Malcuit and centre-back Konstantinos Manolas on the sidelines.
Bologna have three players on the treatment table, too, with midfielder Kingsley Michael, centre-back Kevin Bonifazi and midfielder Nicolas Viola out at the moment.
Given the manner with which Napoli have started the season, the hosts are expected to seal a comfortable win on Thursday.
Forebet predicts that Napoli will score over 2.5 goals on their way to victory over Bologna, although both teams are likely to score.