PREDICTED LINE-UPS | Napoli vs Lazio | OneFootball

With the Scudetto defence virtually over, Napoli will continue their fight to end up as Serie A runners-up when they meet Lazio at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona today. 

After a 2-1 defeat to Atalanta in February, Napoli went on a five-game winning streak, during which they managed to seal victories by a goal margin in each of the matches. Antonio Conte’s men were obstructed by Parma in their previous outing as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw. This result helped league leaders Inter open up a 12-point lead at the top of the table, and it is all but over for the Partenopei in their slim chance of retaining the Scudetto. 

Romelu Lukaku, David Neres and Antonio Vergara will miss the match. Amir Rrahmani could return to the bench after spending seven weeks on the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. Giovanni Di Lorenzo is unlikely to be back on the pitch until Napoli’s next clash versus Cremonese. 

Bagging 44 points from 32 matches has left Lazio sitting in 10th-place in the league standings with little hope of qualifying for Europe next season. The Biancocelesti’s last hope of achieving silverware this season resides in the Coppa Italia, as the second leg of the semi-finals will take place next Wednesday, following a 2-2 stalemate in the first leg against Atalanta. 

Maurizio Sarri has struggled to get his attackers on the right footing to score goals this season. Lazio have failed to score in 10 of the 16 away games this campaign, and this chart proves to be worrying for a club emerging the final part of the season, being well behind of the European places. 

Adam Marusic and Nicolo Rovella are out of the clash. Daniel Maldini’s appearance is a major doubt. First-choice goalkeeper Ivan Provedel will be sidelined due to a recent injury. Mario Gila and Samuel Gigot are expected to start from the bench for this one. 

Here are the predicted line-ups for the match between Napoli and Lazio

Napoli (3-4-2-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Beukema, Buongiorno, Olivera; Politano, Lobotka, Anguissa, Spinazzola; De Bruyne, McTominay; Hojlund.

Lazio (4-3-3): Motta; Lazzari, Gila, Romagnoli, Tavares; Taylor, Cataldi, Basic; Isaksen, Dia, Zaccagni.

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN