Napoli vs Udinese 20/07/20

20 July 2020

Napoli will look to post a sixth consecutive Serie A home victory over Udinese when the two sides meet at the Stadio San Paolo this weekend.

All four of Napoli’s previous Serie A matches have featured goals in both halves and both teams scoring (W2, D2), which has been true in three of their last four top-flight H2Hs (W3, D1). Also, the Stadio San Paolo has been a venue of entertainment recently, as all six of Napoli’s previous league games held here have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet (W4, D1, L1). Yet, the ‘Partenopei’ have seen seven of their nine Serie A home games with Gennaro Gattuso in charge end separating the sides by under 1.5 goals (W4, D1, L4). However, conceding the opening goal may crush Napoli’s hopes of winning, as they returned just a single point from six league home games in which they’ve shipped the opener (D1, L5).

On the other hand, the visitors have secured just two wins from seven Serie A outings since the resumption of football in June (D2, L3), both of which yielded a clean sheet and a full-time margin of at least two goals. Indeed, the ‘clean-sheet’ theme will play a significant role here, as six of Udinese’s last eight Serie A away results (win/loss) witnessed the winner on the day shut out the opponent (W3, L5). But, a lack of concentration in the early stages has seen Udinese allow 57.69% of 26 Serie A away goals conceded in the first half of play (15). Therefore, it’s not strange that the ‘Friulians’ shipped the opening goal (if any) in eight of 16 league trips this campaign.