Serie A: Napoli and Lazio Have Big Targets

Napoli vs Lazio

Naples is the place to be for the Serie A match of the weekend when Simone Inzaghi takes his Top Four-chasing Lazio to meet title outsiders Napoli.

Napoli are in second place but nine points adrift of Juventus, while Lazio are clinging on to that priceless fourth place, a point ahead of Milan, and only seven ahead of Parma in 12^th as the chase for Champions League football heats up.

With the Bianconeri in firm control, the Serie A 2019 betting odds have Napoli pretty much nailed on for another second place, and Lazio vying for fourth place with Milan. But a win for the visitors will not only strengthen their own position, it would all but end Napoli’s fading title challenge and alert third-placed Inter, who have a home match against Sassuolo on Saturday.

Talking points

New Year, hopefully, a new start for Napoli

Carlo Ancelotti’s side has played a lot of exciting, attacking football this season but they suffered a hammer blow to their title hopes on Boxing Day, losing to Inter Milan by an injury-time goal and ending the game with nine men. It wasn’t a good finish to 2018 for Ancelotti as Napoli agonisingly missed qualification to the Champions League last 16, losing out to Liverpool on goals scored in Group C, and must now be one of the hot favourites to win the Europa League.

Arkadiusz Milik is expected to step up for Napoli in their Serie A match up against Lazio — Arkadiusz Milik celebrates scoring their goal

Arkadiusz Milik scored twice in a win over Bologna before the winter break and that has taken his season tally to ten, matching Lazio’s main man Ciro Immobile. And the striker has had great support from Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne, both having good seasons again and weighing in with eight and seven goals to date, while Piotr Zielinski has been a fine acquisition in midfield. This is a team which would put up a stern challenge for the title again were it not for Juventus’ marquee signing of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer.

A second place and Europa league win are very much on the cards.

Champions League is Lazio’s Holy Grail

Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio was cruelly denied Champions League football on the last day of the 2017/18 season in a controversial defeat to Inter, and that makes fourth place all the more critical to the Rome giants. They have picked up seven points from the last three games but were lacklustre in a 1-0 away defeat to Atalanta before that run. Francesco Acerbi was denied an injury-time equaliser in that game by VAR, and that was after he’d been booked for an over-zealous celebration…embarrassing!

Ciro Immobile is top-scoring again with ten goals but he is ploughing a bit of a lone furrow. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is a colossus at the heart of Lazio’s midfield. But he’s the joint second-top scorer with just three, and that must be a concern for Inzaghi. If Immobile hits a dry spell, then it could mean trouble. He did bag a brace, though, in a 4-1 win over Novara in the Coppa Italia last weekend so he has his sights set. Milinkovic-Savic was on target again, and Lazio have a chance if the big Serbian can control the middle of the park in Naples.

History

There isn’t a lot to choose between these two Serie A big guns in their head-to-heads, with Napoli winning 17 to Lazio’s 14 of the 40 games played since 1993.

But recent fixtures have been dominated by Napoli, and how! In the last seven meetings, Napoli has won six and drawn one, scoring 21 goals and conceding four.

When this weekend’s Serie A 2019 updates are all in, I’d be surprised to see a major shift in momentum. But both teams arrive in decent form: the hosts have four wins in five while the visitors are unbeaten in four.

All eyes will be on the strikers, and neutrals will hope for a shootout between Milik and Immobile, both on ten league goals and aiming to double that tally by the end of the season.

Betting tip

	Napoli vs Lazio	Napoli 1X2 @ 1.93
	January 21, 03:30 (GMT+8)

We can expect a great tussle in the big match of the weekend, and I don’t see Napoli winning this clash quite as easily as they have in recent seasons. All three results are on with the draw at 3.45 and Lazio outsiders at 3.85.

But, with home advantage and goals coming from multiple sources, I think Ancelotti’s men will have enough of an advantage to see them over the line. If you disagree, though, and believe it could be a big day for Immobile or Milinkovic-Savic, then the SBOBET odds on Lazio or Draw is 1.81.