Napoli vs Internazionale 07/01/20

7 January 2020

Napoli and Internazionale go head-to-head at the Stadio San Paolo in a massive Serie A (SA) showdown.

The hosts have halted a disastrous eight-game winless league run on the eve of the winter break (D5, L3), snatching a tight 2-1 away victory over Sassuolo. Gennaro Gattuso will now be looking to post his second successive SA triumph in charge of Napoli and his first at home, where Gli Azzurri have failed to grab a win in their last four league fixtures (D2, L2). Gattuso can draw inspiration from an intimidating fact that says Napoli have not lost a single top-flight home H2H with Inter in the 21st century (W9, D4). Additionally, the Partenopei have netted 2+ match goals in six of their previous seven such H2Hs, although they’ve kept a clean sheet just twice across those clashes. It will be crucial for Napoli not to concede the opener here, as they’ve lost both of their SA home games this season that saw them allow the opening goal.

Meanwhile, the visitors have racked up a ten-game unbeaten league run ahead of the winter break (W7, D3), with four of those triumphs coming via the identical 2-1 scoreline. Also, Antonio Conte’s men have been impressive in the final third recently, scoring over 1.5 match goals in eight of their last ten SA fixtures, breaking the deadlock in the opening 25 minutes of play on six of those occasions. Moreover, no team has picked up more SA away points than Inter (22) so far, with the Nerazzurri securing seven consecutive league road wins before being held to a 1-1 draw to Fiorentina. Even though they’ve kept a blank sheet in just two of eight SA road trips this season, the Milanese giants have conceded over 1.5 goals per away fixture only once.