Livorno vs Napoli

Livorno face off at home against the struggling Napoli looking to take advantage of the visitors current poor run of form in Serie A. Meanwhile, the partenopei need at least a draw in the worst way to keep what was once a promising season from spiraling out of control.

Livorno come into this contest in 15^th place of the league table with 23 points on the season. They are just behind Catania on goal difference while sitting one point ahead of 16^th place Empoli. Last week they dropped all 3 points with a 2-0 loss away to Inter Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza. Livorno’s winless run has now reached 4 matches with 2 losses along the way. This week they are severely hampered by a number of injury concerns. Among the players ruled out are Bergvold, Giannichedda, Volpe, Rossini and top scorer Tavano. This will leave manager Camolese to go with a 3-5-2 featuring Bogdani and Tristan as the two strikers.

Napoli have not played much better relative to Livorno over the past few weeks. Last week the club hit another low point in their season when they lost at home to Empoli by a score of 1-3 at the Stadio San Paolo. They also lost top striker Marcelo Zalayeta to suspension and he will now miss 2 matches. The loss left the club managed by Reja in 11^th place of Serie A with 27 points on the present campaign. They are 2 points back of 10^th place Genoa and 1 ahead of 12^th place SS Lazio. In addition to Zalayeta’s absence this week Domizzi is also out suspended while Cupi and Iezzo are out injured. In a surprise move, Calaio is the player to be selected to start in attack for Zalayeta alongside Lavezzi, while Roberto Sosa will be on the bench. Napoli are winners of just one of their last 5 matches with 3 losses over that stretch.

Things are not trending well for Napoli. Not only are they going through their worst stretch of the season, but they have been awful away from home all year long with just 1 win and 3 draws to show from 7 matches. However, Livorno have played like anything but world beaters at home this season and are missing some very important players this week. This has stalemate written all over it.

Prediction: Draw (1-1)