Atalanta and Inter proved Napoli are not invincible, but the Blues should be able to handle Torino, right?
Life as fan of the Bull must be difficult right now. The team had one of its best season starts ever and went undefeated for five rounds. Since late September, however, they've achieved a single win in the last eight rounds. In total, Torino lost seven of their last 10 games in all competitions.
At one point, they were shooting well and the defeats were primarily due to the high number of defensive errors. Now, the defence has improved immensely but the team stopped scoring goals. They scored only twice in the last five games.
Antonio Conte's men finally ended the winless streak with a hard-fought 1-0 over Roma in the previous round. With this result, the team retained its position at the top of the table for at least another week.
On paper, this will not be an easy match for the Blues. Despite the abundance of world-class players in attack, the team has not been very effective in the final third this season. They are the lowest-scoring side among the Top 6 right now.
Much of their success has been due to Conte's elite defensive structure. So knowing that Torino will play defensively, Napoli may have a hard time breaking through their lines.
How the bookies view it: Napoli to retain their leadership?
The odds are quite spicy for such a tight fixture. Kwiff priced the home side at 4/1 to win on Sunday, while the former champions sit at 4/5. Alternatively, you can pick the draw at 12/5.
Recent head to head: Not an easy outing for Napoli
While the Blues have had the upper hand in the overall picture, Torino managed to crush their dreams twice last season. Napoli lost 3-0 in the same fixture last season and then only won a point at home in the reverse scenario.
Players to watch: Kvaratskhelia loves Parma
Goals have been hard to come for both sides lately, although Napoli have been far more successful due to their brilliant defence. This makes it harder to single out a player who might score on Sunday.
Nevertheless, we like the odds for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to score and he loves scoring against Parma. He did it three times in the last couple of seasons and also provided additional assists.
Probable line-ups
Torino: Milinkovic-Savic, Walukiewicz, Coco, Masina, Lazaro, Gineitis, Linetty, Vlasic, Pedersen, Adams, Sanabria
Napoli: Meret, Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Olivera, McTominay, Lobotka, Anguissa, Politano, Lukaku, Kvaratskhelia
Anything else catch the eye?
Napoli kept eight clean sheets in 13 rounds and have conceded only nine goals. Only Juventus have better defensive stats. They also conceded only one goal in their last five away matches. All this suggests we shouldn't expect too much action in this match, although the last few H2Hs were quite spicy.
Interestingly, Napoli failed to beat Torino in the last couple of meetings and even lost 3-0 on their previous visit. This time will be different but we can't back a big scoreline. We expect a 0-1 or a 0-2 at best.
This Serie A match between Torino and Napoli will be played on Dec 1, 2024 and kick off at 14:00. Check below for our tipsters best Torino vs Napoli prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
