Empoli vs Napoli

Runaway Serie A leaders Napoli travel to the Stadio Carlo Castellani to take on mid-table Empoli.

Highly-rated goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario stole the show as Empoli held Fiorentina to a 1-1 away draw in last weekend’s Tuscan derby, extending their winless run in Serie A to four matches (D3, L1). That said, ‘Gli Azzurri’ have only lost one of their eight league outings in 2023 (W2, D5), with one of those wins coming against non-other than runners-up Inter Milan in January. Empoli should be confident enough about pulling off another upset, considering they’ve only lost one of their nine home meetings with Napoli in Serie A (W4, D4). Achieving that feat would get them closer to securing a first top-half finish in the top-flight since 2015/16, as they start this round only two points adrift of tenth-placed Udinese. It would also see them go unbeaten in six consecutive Serie A fixtures for the first time since 2016.

On the other hand, Napoli brushed ten-man Eintracht Frankfurt aside with a 2-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday to put one foot in the quarter-finals. Equally impressive in Serie A, Luciano Spalletti’s high-flyers have won seven consecutive league matches after a 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan at the turn of the calendar year, with six of those wins coming by multi-goal margins. Indeed, ‘I Partenopei’ have won three straight Serie A games by 2+ goals ‘to nil’ in the build-up to this fixture and could register four top-flight shutouts on the trot for the second time under Spalletti. But after losing their last two away league H2Hs against Empoli despite finding the net, that’s not a foregone conclusion.