Dream Still Alive for Napoli
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The Italian Serie A is the one remaining top league in Europe still to be decided and the title race is between Juventus and Napoli.
On Sunday, Napoli travel to Fiorentina in their bid to either remain 1 point behind Juventus or to move above them in the table. With Juventus currently a point ahead of Napoli in the table but facing a tricky match at Inter Milan, this could be the turning point in the season for Maurizio Sarri’s team.
Hosts, Fiorentina, start the weekend in ninth place and have very little to play for at the end of the season. There is an outside chance they can qualify for the Europa League but Fiorentina must win their remaining games, starting with this one.
Fiorentina come into this match having lost 1-0 at Sassuolo last weekend. That result means it is now three games without a win in Serie A for Stefano Pioli’s team and they have drawn one and lost two of those matches. Having picked up a point at home against SAPL, Fiorentina lost to Lazio and Sassuolo.
Home form has been a mixed bag for Fiorentina and while they have lost only one of their last five Serie A games at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, they have won three, the last of which came on the 31st of March against Crotone.
Trends show, ahead of the thrilling 3-4 home defeat to Lazio, Fiorentina kept a clean sheet in four successive games and will be hoping to keep Napoli at bay in this match and return to winning ways.
Napoli head to Florence having picked up a fantastic 1-0 win at Juventus last weekend. This was the biggest match of the season and while many onlookers fancied Juventus to get the job done, Napoli played well at the Allianz Stadium and scored a late goal to seal maximum points and keep the title race alive.
Trends show Napoli are undefeated in their last seven Serie A games and they have picked up four wins and three draws during that period. Away from home their league form has been superb and Napoli have not been beaten in their last thirty trips away from the Stadio San Paolo.
Napoli’s away matches have become close affairs and trends show they have kept a clean sheet in seven of their last eight. However, Napoli have only managed to score 2 goals themselves in their last four on the road and will hope to improve in the attacking third on Sunday.
Looking ahead to the team news and Fiorentina will be without the suspended Bryan Dabo. However, Milan Badelj, German Pezzella and Marco Sportiello are back and all three should start the match.
Napoli are still without left-back Faouzi Ghoulam but every other player is available. Sarri has decisions to make in midfield and attack, with Piotr Zielinski and Arkadiusz Milik pushing for a place in the team.
This has the makings of another close game for Napoli but Fiorentina are not in great from and the away team should come away with a narrow yet crucial win.
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