RIDING HIGH AHEAD OF NAPOLI, 2-22-2016

First Team

 

Milan unbeaten in seven and in sixth spot.

MILAN – Napoli-Milan. Round 26 of Serie A on Monday night. The former are enjoying a great season under Maurizio Sarri, winning plenty of plaudits for their attractive brand of football. In just his first season at the helm, Sarri has his men only 2 points behind current-leaders Juve, who have played a game more, and the objective of reclaiming the league leadership at the San Paolo on Monday night.

However, the Azzurri will welcome Milan on the back of two straight losses at home and abroad. Remarkably, it is the first time this season that Napoli go into a match having suffered successive defeats: (1-0 at Juventus in Serie A and 1-0 at Villarreal in the Europa League). What’s more, never before had they gone two matches in a row without scoring this campaign.

The Partenopei’s goal drought now stands at 201 minutes. The last player to score for the southern outfit was Gonzalo Higuain when he netted a 69th minute penalty which gave Napoli a 1-0 victory at home to Carpi in Serie A. The last player to score from open-play on the other hand was Jose Callejon in Napoli’s 2-0 victory away at Lazio on February 3, also in Serie A.

In this corresponding fixture earlier in the season, the Azzurri conquered the San Siro with an unprecedented 4-0 victory. It was the Rossoneri’s lowest point of the season. But flash forward to today, the Rossoneri find themselves in a much stronger position, in 6th place, and riding high on the back of a 7 game unbeaten run made up of 4 wins and 3 draws.

In another sign of strength, and from the following 18 rounds since that loss, the Rossoneri have collected 9 wins, 7 draws and just 2 defeats. What’s more, if the table were to be calculated on those matches alone, the team would be in third place. Only Juve (49 points) and Monday’s opponents Napoli (44) have fared better in the past 18 rounds.

Napoli – Milan is also a duel between the Italian top-flight’s sharp-shooters Higuain and Bacca. The Argentine is Serie A’s top-scorer with 24 goals. Following behind on 13 are Juve’s Paulo Dybala and Milan’s Bacca. The Colombian is also the third most decisive player in the league when it comes to goals to points won. Bacca’s goals have brought 17 points to the team. Only Dybala (19) and Higuain (34) can lay claim to a better record.

On the subject of goals scored, Napoli and Milan are the two sides that score the most goals in the opening 15 mins after the break. Napoli have fired in 12 goals in the period 46-60 mins and Milan 9 – the same as Empoli and Sampdoria.

SOURCE: Football data.