Nine places and three points are all that separate Napoli and Cagliari in the Serie A table. The Partenopei head into the Wednesday night fixture in third place and depending on the results and the teams above them, could finish midweek in first place.
Cagliari, on the other hand, could pull themselves closer to the top four with a win at the San Paolo. However, Cagliari have lost their last seven matches against Napoli in Serie A and history does not bode well for a win away.
Nel mirino #NapoliCagliari 🎯📄: https://t.co/XpCgSmMNDs pic.twitter.com/qDhJGK5sWg— Cagliari Calcio (@CagliariCalcio) September 23, 2019
Nel mirino #NapoliCagliari 🎯📄: https://t.co/XpCgSmMNDs pic.twitter.com/qDhJGK5sWg
The Islanders have won back to back league games. The dual wins came on the back of two straight losses to open up the campaign. Now, Rolando Maran’s team has defeated Parma and Genoa decisively in consecutive weeks.
They will be taking a step up in opponents when they visit the San Paolo as Napoli are one of Serie A’s elite teams. Napoli have also won back to back matches in Serie A. The Partenopei defeated Sampdoria, 2-0, and Lecce, 4-1. The victories followed a heartbreaking loss to Juventus, 4-3, at the Allianz.
The San Paolo is a difficult stadium to go away to and win. The atmosphere inside the creaky old stadium is a cauldron of noise on matchday. Carlo Ancelotti’s men recently defeated reigning Champions League winners Liverpool at home in the European Cup competition.
Napoli have only played one home league match this term. It finished in a 2-0 win against Sampdoria. Combined with their win over Liverpool, Napoli have won twice at the San Paolo and both times by 2-0 scorelines.
Cagliari have ventured away from Sardinia just once this term so far. Their lone away fixture resulted in a 3-1 win at Parma. Maran will feel confident they can go to Naples and do well. However, seven straight losses to Napoli indicates they will struggle.
Napoli’s Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne have combined for six goals this season. The attacking duo has tallied 46% of Napoli’s goals. Insigne returned from injury last week in the Champions League along with fellow forward Arkadiusz Milik.
Six of the last seven matches between Napoli and Cagliari in Serie A ended with over 2.5 goals scored. Two of those fixtures saw both teams score.
Wednesday night’s match should once again see over 2.5 goals scored and both teams find the back of the net. Their last meeting at the San Paolo ended 2-1 last term. Expect that result to occur once more.