Napoli vs Udinese

April 16, 2011
By: John Hansen

If this game was played just few weeks ago, I wouldn’t dare to back Napoli against high-flying Udinese, but a lot has happened during the last few days that make Napoli hot favourites for the win. Udinese are without both Antonio Di Natale and Alexis Sanchez, which significantly decreases their chances of getting something from this match.

Can Napoli catch Milan?

Napoli have been thoroughly impressive this season, but even when they were playing well and keeping up with leaders Milan, everybody expected the Partenopei to start slipping down the Serie A standings. Not only did Napoli keep the rich vein of form, but they managed to close the gap behind the Rossoneri to just three points, having won last four league games. With just six rounds to go it is more than clear that anything can happen and Napoli fans have a right to dream, especially taking into account how their team have been playing lately. After beating Parma, Cagliari and Lazio, Napoli brought all three points from Bologna despite playing without Edison Cavani, with the players now brimming with confidence before the Udinese game. With attacking trident of Cavani, Hamsik and Lavezzi set to be restored, the Partenopei look set to record the fifth straight league victory.

Apart from Gianluca Grava, Walter Mazzarri will have full squad to choose from.

Big blow for Udinese

Just like Napoli, Udinese are one of the surprise packages of the Serie A campaign and the Friulani have been going strong until a couple of weeks ago. Just when everybody started believing Francesco Guidolin’s side will manage to qualify for the Champions League, the Zebrette started to struggle and it appears the pressure of expectations was too much for the players to bear. Back to back defeats to Lecce and Roma saw Udine slip to fifth place in the standings, but that was just the beginning of their worries. As if the major blow to the players’ confidence was not enough, Udinese had the misfortune to lose amazing attacking duo of Alexis Sanchez and Toto Di Natale through injury, and the Zebrette now look lost before the Napoli game. Boss Guidolin will now have to tinker with his tactics in order to try and compensate for the absentees, but there is no doubt that the pair will be sorely missed.

Almen Abdi misses out through suspension, while Basta, Feronetti, Angella and Badu are also out.

Verdict

Napoli are flying high at the moment and with their job made much easier by the absence of Di Natale and Sanchez, the Partenopei look like hot favourites to win the game. There is no way that Udinese will be able to compensate for the absence of the star duo, so home win should never come into question.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 1.73 (8/11)

Bookmaker: 888Sport

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