Napoli vs Genoa

April 6, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

The amazing comeback against Torino helped Napoli remain in the second place in the standings, and the Azzurri are now hot favourites to extend their winning run against struggling Genoa. The Rossolblu missed an excellent chance to virtually secure Serie A survival as they could only muster a 2-2 draw against Siena, meaning they now have got to try and get something from Stadio San Paolo.

Cavani on fire

From the very start to the season Napoli showed they are the only side in the elite division capable of vying Juventus for the Serie A title, and even if the Azzurri eventually failed to keep up with their more illustrious rivals, they did really well to stay in the title race for so long. The thin squad coped with the hectic schedule ended up costing the team dearly, as a seven-match winless run in all competitions saw them crash out of Europe and allowed the Bianconeri to create a nine-point advantage at the top. One would think that Napoli won’t be able to recover from such a big blow, but they, nevertheless, produced two amazing attacking displays to record 3-2 and 5-3 victories over Atalanta and Torino respectively. Following the two high-scoring matches, the Azzurri now boast the second best attacking record in the top flight, but the record of seven conceded goals in last three matches is certainly a cause for concern as Walter Mazzarri’s men prepare for the match with relegation-threatened Genoa.

Morgan De Sanctis, Valon Behrami and Hugo Campagnaro all return, while Edinson Cavani is set to start after he was rested in Turin.

Tough times for Genoa

Genoa officials opted for a major squad overhaul in the summer after the team had finished the previous league campaign just above the relegation zone, but the Rossoblu never quite managed to escape the danger zone. Luigi De Canio and Luigi Del Neri both paid the price for the disappointing results, and the team have indeed been showings some improvement since Davide Ballardini took over. After taking nine points from five league games, Genoa succumbed to three successive defeats before sharing spoils with Siena at home last weekend, although their performances are better than the results would suggest. The team are much more dangerous up front since Marco Borriello and Bosko Jankovic recovered from injury, while Andrea Bertollaci also returns for the Napoli game. Seeing that Genoa have too many quality attackers to be playing defence-minded football, there is every chance that they will attempt to attack Napoli at San Paolo, or at least try to hit them on the break whenever possible.

Andrea Bertolacci is available after serving a suspension, but Thomas Manfredini is suspended, while Marco Rossi, Cesare Bovo and Damiano Feronetti are out injured.

Verdict

Napoli are back to scoring goals for fun, but their back line certainly cannot be trusted to keep a clean sheet having conceded seven goals in last three matches. Genoa are very motivated to improve their dismal run of results and I can definitely see them scoring at least once at Stadio San Paolo.

Top pick: Both teams to score   2.10 (11/10) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 1: Over 2.5 goals   1.80 (4/5) @ Betfair

Alternative pick 2: Cavani to score   1.50 (1/2) @ Sportingbet

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