4th placed Napoli will be desperate to hold onto their current position in the Serie A standings when they play host to mid-table Udinese on Monday night at their Stadio Diego Armando Maradona with a place in next season’s Champions League at stake.
Napoli have hit their straps at just about the right time in this season’s Italian top flight campaign as the hosts have suffered just one defeat out of their last 13 matches overall, and that was a 2-1 loss away from home at 5th placed Juventus.
However, since that defeat, Napoli have put together a solid looking six-match unbeaten run in Serie A which includes wins against Sampdoria, Lazio, Torino and Spezia, while results on home soil have been even more impressive.
Gennaro Gattuso’s side have won seven of their last nine matches at home, four of these being to nil, while racking up a total of 25 goals for and conceding just 8 in reply but the hosts will be without defenders, Khoulibaly and Ghoulam along with midfielder Lobotka for this clash.
Udinese sit mid-table in 11th place in Serie A and are neither worried about relegation nor will they be involved in the race for a place in the top six of the Italian top flight, so the visitors have little to play for here compared to their hosts.
An average sequence of results has seen Udinese pick up just two wins out of their last nine matches overall which, incidentally, were both away from home with victories collected at Crotone and Benevento.
However, it should be noted that both of these wins were against opposition currently sitting in the bottom three of the division while five defeats within this recent nine-match period has prevented Udinese from lifting themselves up into the top half of Serie A.
Prior to these two wins on the road, Udinese had struggled and were without a win in five matches which included defeats at Roma and Atalanta, and this upcoming trip to high-flying Napoli may well represent a tough task for the visitors here as well.
Udinese are set to be without forward trio, Deulofeu, Braaf and Nestorovski along with midfielder Pussetto, who are all out with knee injuries.
Napoli have the greater incentive here and the hosts should record a straightforward victory at home.