Napoli vs Torino

Napoli’s Serie A title hopes are on the line as they meet Torino at Stadio Diego Maradona this weekend.

Napoli took full advantage of Inter Milan’s slip-up at Bologna last weekend to draw level on points with the reigning champions at the table’s summit with a gutsy 1-0 win at rock-bottom Monza. Seeking a third consecutive league victory for the first time since January, Antonio Conte takes on Torino, a side he has never lost to during his trophy-laden managerial career (W8, D2). Furthermore, ‘I Partenopei’ have not lost a home league match against this opposition since 2009, racking up seven wins and five draws across their last 12 H2Hs on this ground. A 13th straight unbeaten duel looks likely, with Napoli taking the field amid an eight-game undefeated home league streak (W6, D2) despite only keeping one clean sheet across the last six. 

Meanwhile, there’s nothing but pride left to play for Torino, whose tenth placing means they cannot fight for Europe or slip to the drop zone in the final five rounds. However, the visitors could still have their say in the title race, as they travel south amid a decent-looking eight-game spell of form (W4, D3, L1). Notably, Torino have recently thrived against top-two opposition, claiming two wins from their last three league encounters (W2, L1) -matching their tally from the previous 33 such matches (D9, L22). Against this backdrop, Paolo Vanoli’s men have only won one away league game on the road all season (D7, L5) against sides starting this round outside the bottom three.