Napoli climbed to third place in the standings thanks to an impressive win over Inter at Giuseppe Meazza and the Partenopei are now looking to continue the good run of results against one of the worst travelers in Serie A. Parma are playing well at home, but they cannot be recognized when they leave their Ennio Tardini, so everything suggests that the visitors face an uphill task at San Paolo.

Napoli continue to impress

Following some impressive performances from last season and the serious title challenge Walter Mazzarri’s team put up last term, not too many people believed that Napoli could do something similar this term. Club owner Aurelio de Laurentiis made sure the Partenopei remain very competitive by not only keeping hold of star players Hamsik, Cavani and Lavezzi, but also by adding players like Dzemaili, Inler, Donadel, Britos, Pandev and Santana as well. As a result, Napoli impressed at the start of the season, by beating Cesena away and Milan at home, and if Walter Mazzarri hadn’t decided to leave his star players out of the starting line-up, the Azzurri would have probably beaten Chievo as well. Napoli did have problems in the home game against Fiorentina, but they then returned to winning ways with a 3:0 victory over Inter at Meazza, so they have got to be considered favourites in the clash with Parma.

Edison Cavani returns to the side after recovering from injury, but Pandev, Donadel and Britos remain sidelined.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Boasting a squad very similar to that of last season, Parma are expected to finish the league campaign in the bottom part of the table, although they should have no problems ensuring survival. The team have so far picked up six points from five Serie A rounds, which is a decent return for relegation strugglers, but we can already see a pattern in team’s performances. While Parma have two out of three at home, having beaten Chievo and Genoa, and lost to Roma, il Ducali have been utterly disappointing on the travels, losing to both Juventus and Fiorentina, conceding seven goals in the process. This is nothing new for Parma as they were one of the worst travelers in Serie A last season as well, and taking that into consideration, I don’t see how il Ducali can stop high-flying Napoli at San Paolo.

Important attackers Hernan Crespo and Rafaele Palladino remain sidelined, but at least Sebastian Giovinco is in high spirits after starting Italy’s game against Northern Ireland.

Verdict

Napoli look virtually unstoppable at the moment and with Edison Cavani back to the starting line-up, the hosts look like hot favourites to beat Parma. Il Ducali have lost both away games by a three-goal margin, and I don’t think they will fare much better at San Paolo.

Our prediction: Napoli with -1 Asian handicap

Odds: 1.95 (19/20)

Bookmaker: 188BET

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