Two sides at either end of the table will meet in the Serie A on Tuesday night as the title chasing Napoli look to close the gap on league leaders Inter Milan just as Spezia aim to steer clear of the relegation zone ahead of Christmas.
It has indeed been a very worrying period for Spezia who following their sixth game without a win now sit just three points above the drop ahead of this game and another defeat could send them crashing into the bottom three if further results also go against them.
On one hand, they did manage to get a draw off the high-flying Empoli in their last fixture, which although far from something to praise about, was commendable in some ways given their ninth position in the league table.
On the other hand, however, the club also lost 2-0 last week in a damning 2-0 defeat to Lecce in the Coppa Italia, which they needed to win given their standing over them in a superior division, and how they now have nothing but a relegation to fight against for the rest of the season now.
Spezia also come into this one having conceded a combined 14 goals from the bigger clubs in Serie A like AC Milan, Inter, Juventus, Atalanta and Roma, and with their 39 goals conceded in the league already, it doesn’t bode well for them at all in this clash.
This 39-goal defensive record is actually only made worse by Cagliari and Salernitana who sit in the bottom three, which just about sums up Spezia’s status in Serie A since their return two seasons ago, as they also ended the campaign with only a six-point gap on the drop last season too.
Moreover, with the second-most defeats in the league, Thiago Motta’s men are not expected to progress on their three wins so far and are predicted to fall to another defeat to the title-chasing Napoli instead.
The Naples outfit are coming off the back of their result of the season where they won 1-0 away to fellow title rivals, Milan.
It was as professional of a performance as the club have had all campaign long, and during a time where their title challenging credentials were brought into question, they answered back with a flurry.
Forebet predicts a win here for the second-placed side and Luciano Spalletti’s men are also predicted to see over 2.5 goals in the game with them scoring 35 and letting in only 13 thus far.