Serie A: Napoli Need a Response Against Sassuolo

Napoli vs Sassuolo

Napoli’s chances of winning the Serie A title this season look bleak as their losing skid couldn’t come at a worse time.

Because of their poor stretch of recent Serie A 2022 results, I Partenopei have slid to third place with 67 points, while Inter and AC Milan lead the pack with 72 and 74 points respectively with four more games to play.

The assumption is that the Scudetto is going to be won by either of the two Milan-based clubs, which leaves Napoli empty-handed once again, although they should be able to make their return to the Champions League next season.

This Saturday, they’ll host Sassuolo at the Diego Maradona Stadium – in a match where both calcios are seeking motivation, especially with I Neroverdi on a slump too.

Like Napoli, Sassuolo are winless in three of their last four league fixtures, so a victory here can give them a morale boost as well as points to help them move up in the table.

 

Talking Points

Major overhaul looming for Napoli

Lorenzo Insigne is undoubtedly a household name not only for Napoli, but also for the Italian national team. And as he’s set to move on to Toronto FC in July after agreeing to a lucrative five-year deal, Napoli will look to give their captain a fitting goodbye.

Winning the Scudetto would’ve been the perfect send-off, but their inability to win the games that matter has come back to haunt them.

Losses to Fiorentina and Empoli have hurt their Scudetto hopes, while they were also held to a 1-1 draw by AS Roma recently.

Insigne has done all he could by scoring two goals in their last three league games, but they just couldn’t stop their opponents from scoring – conceding seven goals total.

Top scorer Victor Osimhen was virtually absent against AS Roma and Empoli, and he must find a way to regain his shooting boots in this game.

There’s speculation that Luciano Spalletti could be fired at the end of this campaign following their recent collapse and because of his reportedly fractured relationship with team owner Aurelio de Laurentiis.

I Partenopei are apparently looking at Gian Piero Gasperini as Spalletti’s possible replacement, so Lorenzo Insigne is likely not the only one who’ll leave the club in just a few weeks from now.

Sassuolo struggling on the defencive end

I Neroverdi can definitely keep up with the best of them in terms of scoring, but the same can’t be said for their backline – which is probably the main reason why they aren’t a top-tier squad.

Sassuolo have conceded 55 goals total and they haven’t kept a clean sheet since their surprising 2-0 win over Inter Milan last February.

Alessio Dionisi’s men are fresh from a 2-1 loss to Juventus last Tuesday as Paulo Dybala and Moise Kean scored for I Bianconeri while Giacomo Raspadori also scored for I Neroverdi.

They were reduced to 10 men at the time as full-back Giorgos Kyriakopoulos was red-carded and he won’t be available for the next game.

Domenico Berardi leads their scoring charts with 14 goals and 12 assists, while Gianluca Scamacca and Giacomo Raspadori are the two other double-digit scorers for them with 13 and 10 respectively.

History

Napoli and Sassuolo produced one of the more entertaining draws of the season during their reverse fixture last December.

In the said game, it felt like Napoli would cruise to the victory when Fabian Ruiz and Dries Mertens scored in the 51^st and 59^th minute en route to a 2-0 lead.

However, Sassuolo never gave up as they replied with two goals of their own courtesy of Gianluca Scamacca and Gian Marco Ferrari to end the game with a 2-2 scoreline.

Sassuolo are now unbeaten in their last three Serie A games against Napoli (W1, D2) and they’re keen on extending their run to four straight.

I Partenopei have conceded at least two goals in their last three meetings against I Neroverdi (seven goals total), so we might be in for another shootout this weekend given such trend.

Betting Tip

The gulf between Napoli and Sassuolo is noticeable which is why the latter is being backed to win by the SBOTOP Serie A 2022 odds. Napoli are installed at 1.45, while Sassuolo are priced at 6.20 and chances for a draw are at 4.60 in the 1X2 market. Neither team are enjoying a strong end to their respective campaigns. But with Napoli still needing one more victory to fully confirm their Champions League berth for next season, we expect a strong reaction from them this weekend.

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