Fresh from the Champions League triumph over Marseille, Napoli aim to put extra pressure on Serie A leaders Roma by defeating Torino in early kick-off on Sunday. Meanwhile, Granata are on a four-match unbeaten run and I’m sure they won’t mind picking up one point from Stadio San Paolo in Naples.

Big strength in depth

Napoli largely impressed last season even with much thinner squad, as they battled bravely in the Champions League, albeit crashing out in first knockout stage, while achieving a second-place finish in Serie A. However, having added a number of quality players in the summer, the Azzurri are clearly better equipped for an assault on one of the major trophies. And while Rafael Benitez’s strongest line-up have enough quality and experience to match even the Europe’s best sides, the back up players have also been impressing this term. It is the likes of Mertens and Zapata, who are not normally considered first team regulars, that played key roles in the all-important victory over Marseille in midweek and they are expected to play a part against Torino as well. With derby match against Fiorentina scheduled for Wednesday, chances are Rafael Benitez will rest a couple of first team regulars, but that is unlikely to be a problem when facing severely weakened Torino. Seeing as how the Viola game is just three days away, the hosts will give their best to finish the job early on so that they could take their foot off gas in the second period.

Captain Paolo Cannavaro misses out through suspension, whereas Camilo Zuniga and Miguel Britos are out injured.

Huge selection problems

Ever since they returned to the top flight, Granata have proved to be a tough nut to crack, and they have managed to frustrate quite a few top Italian sides over the last year or so. However, while Torino tend to do fairly well on the road when facing bottom table teams, they rarely manage to get anything from away matches against the top 6 rivals. We cannot say that the lack of strength in depth is such a big problem for boss Giampiero Ventura given that his side rarely play more than one game per week, but chances are he will not have proper replacements for a number of important players who are set to miss the trip to Naples. And with Wednesday’s match against newly promoted Livorno clearly a much better opportunity for Torino to return to winning ways or at least add another point to their tally, the visitors might have problems focusing on this match. However, chances are that Giampiero Ventura will not discard his attacking approach despite facing one of league’s best sides, but that is only going to make the job easier for the Azzurri, who can be lethal when afforded enough space.

Ciro Immobile and Jean-Francois Gillet are banned, whilst Larrondo, Bovo, Rodriguez, El Kaddouri and Brighi are out injured and Farnerud is doubtful.

Verdict

While he may rest one or two players for the Fiorentina clash, Rafael Benitez is still expected to field a very strong side against Torino, which should result in another comfortable home win. Granata are missing a number of key men and they cannot be expected to make life difficult for the Azzurri at this point in time.

Top pick: Napoli/Napoli   1.96 (24/25) @ Unibet

Alternative pick 1: Napoli with -1.5 Asian handicap   2.02 (51/50) @ bet365

Alternative pick 2: Napoli to win to nil   2.38 (11/8) @ Coral