Venezia vs Napoli

Stadio Alberto Picco is the venue as Venezia and Napoli go head-to-head in a high-stakes Serie A encounter.

Venezia bagged a stoppage-time equalizer to salvage a 1-1 draw against fellow newcomers Como last weekend, making it three consecutive stalemates in Serie A for the first time since 1962. It also halted Venezia’s dreadful run of four straight scoring blanks, perhaps setting them up nicely for this high-stakes fixture. Stranded six points adrift of safety, Eusebio Di Francesco’s men head into proceedings amid an 11-game winless league run (D6, L5), which started with a 1-0 defeat to Napoli in December. Furthermore, the Winged Lions have only won once in their last nine home league outings (D4, L4), failing to find the net in the most recent two (D1, L1) and could make it three in a row without scoring at Stadio Alberto Picco for the first time since 2001. 

There’s a decent chance Napoli could condemn Venezia to that unwanted record after keeping a clean sheet in all three H2Hs in the 21st century (W3). ‘I Partenopei’ need a victory to bolster their Scudetto hopes as they trail table-topping Inter Milan by a point ahead of the kick-off. Antonio Conte’s charges halted a dismal five-game winless league run (D4, L1) with a 2-1 home win against Fiorentina last weekend, marking an eighth consecutive Serie A game without a clean sheet. However, the visitors enter this round on a three-game winless away league run (D2, L1) and could lose back-to-back matches against Serie A newcomers for the first time since April 2015.