Napoli vs Lazio

Napoli and Lazio will face each other for the second time in 3 days with this match taking place at Napoli’s home, the Stadio San Paolo. The partenopei will be looking to exact revenge after the Romans knocked them out of the Coppa Italia.

The side managed by Reja currently sit in 8^th place of Serie A with 23 points on the year. They are one point back of Sampdoria who are 7^th and 1 point ahead of Atalanta. Napoli are coming off of an ugly loss last week away to AC Milan at the San Siro by a score of 5-2. It was the first time this season that Milan have been able to win at home. The club will be missing 2 players this week as Uruguayans Marcelo Zalayeta and Walter Gargano are both suspended. These are big absences as Zalayeta leads the club in scoring while Gargano is their most important defensive midfielder. However, the Argentine combination of Roberto Sosa and Ezequiel Lavezzi provide Napoli with 2 top of the like strikers so the loss of Zalayeta will be absorbed.

Lazio come into this contest in 15^th place of Serie A with 18 points, just behind Livorno on goal difference. While they lost their last league match at home to Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico di Roma, they did held serve against Napoli at home in the Coppa Italia and advanced to the next round. The biancocelesti have been struggling away from home this season with just 1 win from 8 matches. The biggest absence this week for manager Delio Rossi is striker Stephen Makinwa who is at the African Cup of Nations in Ghana. In addition, striker Rocch is dealing with an injury and is not expected to be able to start at Napoli. Instead, he will be on the bench with Igli Tare taking his spot alongside Goran Pandev.

This is a big match for Napoli. They fell they crashed out of the Coppa Italia due to a lack of concentration and will be looking to correct those mistakes. Lazio got the result they needed in the Coppa Italia and their poor road record sets them up for a let down this week.

 

Prediction: Napoli (2-1)