Udinese vs Napoli: Prediction

Udinese vs Napoli
Date: Saturday, 19 November 2016

Both Udinese and Napoli will hope to mark their return to action after the international break with a win as they square off at the Dacia Arena on Saturday.

The Zebrette appear to be slowly turning a corner. After a difficult beginning, Luigi Delneri’s tactical approach appears to be finally taking root. Whilst clean sheets are still tough to come by – the last shut-out was when they beat AC Milan 1-0 on September 11th – going four matches unbeaten is still a noteworthy result for a club who were at one point flirting with the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, Napoli continue to struggle to find their footing. Maurizio Sarri’s men sit in sixth spot, and the Partenopei have hit a slump both domestically and continentally. Since Arkadiusz Milik’s injury, their attack has not been as threatening as it once was, and they have gone from cruising to a round of 16 spot in the Champions League to now fighting tooth and nail to keep Besiktas at bay.

The absence of Milik has forced Sarri to tinker with his formation, which has produced mixed results. Manolo Gabbiadini has struggled to deputize for Milik due to an inability to fit in well tactically into his manager’s plans, and so the Italian boss has used Dries Mertens as a false no. 9 at times.

Like Udinese, Napoli have also struggled to keep things tight at the back, and have failed to keep a clean sheet since shutting out Empoli. However, given that the Azzurri have one of the worst-performing attacks in the league, that’s not exactly notable nor encouraging, especially considering they hope to seriously challenge Juventus for the Scudetto.

Udinese vs Napoli: Head-to-head statistics

• Udinese are unbeaten in four straight games (two wins, two draws).
• The last time the Zebrette went five sans defeat was during the 2012/2013 season.
• Napoli have only beaten Udinese twice out of their last 10 meetings (four losses, four draws).
• The Zebrette are unbeaten against Napoli in their last eight home meetings across all competitions.
• The Partenopei have won 11, drawn four, and lost five of their past 20 away games against teams ranked below them in the table.
• Udinese have won four, drawn five, and lost 11 out of their last 20 home games against teams ranked above them in the table.
• Neither Napoli nor Udinese have managed to keep a clean sheet since September (against Empoli and Milan respectively).

Udinese vs Napoli: Prediction

Udinese are in solid form, and as noted before, are on the cusp of making it a fifth straight game without defeat for the first time in four seasons. However, they have conceded in nine consecutive matches and have been unable to shut out any opponent in over two months. Hence, despite Napoli’s struggles, the Zebrette could find it really difficult to prevent the Partenopei from scoring. Still, Maurizio Sarri’s men have been in inconsistent form

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