Napoli have finished no lower than 5th in Serie A across the last seven seasons and will be aiming to go one better than their second-place finish in 2015/16. This week they entertain Atalanta in Serie A and will be expecting to build on their win from last weekend. Napoli finished 3rd last season, 1 point behind second place Roma and 5 points behind champions Juventus.
Atalanta did very well to finish in 4th place last season and claim a spot in the group stages of the Europa League. To end the season above Lazio, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Fiorentina was a great achievement and they will settle for the same outcome at the end of this campaign.
Napoli Form
Napoli are regarded as one of the best teams to watch in European football and it’s easy to why as they comfortably defeated Nice 2-0 away from home in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
That match was Napoli’s third competitive game of the new season having defeated Nice by the same scoreline in the first leg of their Champions League tie and won 3-1 at Hellas Verona in Serie A last weekend.
Napoli have started this season where they left off last season, by scoring goals. They have already scored 7 goals in 3 matches this season and including Serie A fixtures from last season, Napoli have scored 37 goals in their last 13 games at an average of 2.84 goals per game.
Atalanta Form
Atalanta started the Serie A season with a tough looking home match against one of the title favourites Roma and came away with a 1-0 defeat.
It’s a tough start to the season for Atalanta who must face two of the top three teams from last season in their opening two fixtures. However, they gave a good account of themselves last week at home to Roma, despite losing the game.
Atalanta lost some key players during the summer transfer window but will be looking to replicate their form of last season. Away from home they were undefeated in their last 4 matches, winning 2 and drawing 2, scoring 8 goals and conceding just 2 in the process.
Team News
Napoli will start in their preferred 4-3-3 formation with Dries Mertens continuing in the central striker’s role. The hosts will be without Elseid Hysaj who is suspended but have no injury concerns ahead of the game. Atalanta have a clean bill of health for this game and no suspensions. They are likely to play in a 3-4-2-1 formation with Andrea Petagna leading from the front.
Top Betting Tips
Given the way they have started the season and their home record in Serie A it’s difficult to look beyond Napoli for the win in this game and they are 2/5 with William Hill to claim maximum points.
There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 4 of Napoli’s last 5 home games and the way they have started the season in attack suggests there will be plenty of goal mouth action in this match. Napoli to win and over 2.5 goals is 19/20 with Ladbrokes.
Interestingly, Napoli have only lost 1 of their last 15 home Serie A games and that defeat came at the hands of Atalanta last season. If they are to cause a shock again this season it is likely to be with both teams scoring and you can get a massive 11/1 with Ladbrokes for Atalanta to win and both teams to score.