NAPOLI VS CHIEVO PREVIEW & PREDICTION
The engine of Napoli faltered the last few weeks and therefore the Scudetto seems to be a difficult story. Point loss against Chievo Verona could well be fatal.
Napoli:
Napoli is the last remaining challenger of Juventus, but currently struggles to show the desired level. The team of coach Maurizio Sarri won, as said, but one of the last four matches and that is far too skinny as the title is still the goal. Napoli lost at home from AS Roma 2-4 and came a week later no more than a goalless draw against Internazionale. With a meager 1-0 win over Genoa, Napoli seemed to regain confidence, but last week it went wrong again at Sassuolo. At the moment the title is far away due to the lack of form. The difference with Juventus has already risen to four points and the team from Turin hardly leaves anything.
The away match against weak Sassuolo seemed to offer Napoli a great opportunity to give confidence a new boost, but once again the Sarri men failed to show their best game. In fact, the visitors had to go quite deep to prevent a defeat. Sassuolo had the initiative through a goal by Matteo Politano, but in the end it turned out to be insufficient to get the full prize. José Callejon equalized after 80 minutes.
Sarri will have to make some adjustments with Chievo and that is not too good news. Jorginho and Raul Albiol ran into fatal yellow cards last week and are thus suspended for this game. Vlad Chiriches is now expected to kick off at the heart of the defense.
Chievo Verona:
Chievo Verona seemed to be dropping lately in the bottom three places, but just when the bottom seemed to be reached, the team of coach Rolando Maran hit back. Sampdoria was defeated and against Sassuolo it was equalized and that caused some breathing space. Chievo, however, will not yet count richly. The difference with the eighteenth place is only five points and clubs like Sassuolo, Cagliari and SPAL can have enough of a match to push Chievo in the rankings.
The past week was, as said, quite successful for Chievo, with the performance against Sampdoria undoubtedly as a highlight. The visitors from Genoa are still in the race for a place with the best six and they were the favorite for the meeting with Chievo. They also opened the score, but after the break, Chievo then struck with goals by Lucas Castro and Perparim Hetemaj. Four days later Chievo crossed the swords with Sassuolo and that game produced a run: 1-1.
For Emanuele Giaccherini it will be a special competition. The midfielder did not manage to fight in the Napoli base for the winter break, which is why he was leased to Chievo. Fabricio Caccaiatore collected his fifth yellow card of the season in the last game and is thus suspended.
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.58
