Fiorentina host the defending champions Napoli in one of the highlight fixtures of the third round in Serie A. Will La Viola continue their impressive home form, or will the Blues be the team to stop them?
La Viola had a busy start to the season, navigating between Serie A and the Conference League qualifications. Now, with a few weeks to spare until the start of UEFA's lowest-ranked competition, Fiorentina must find some improvement and start climbing the table. La Viola kicked off the domestic campaign with back-to-back draws, evidently struggling in front of the goal.
Napoli's back-to-back wins to start the campaign extended their unbeaten run in Serie A to 14 matches, with their last defeat being that shocking display away at Como in February. The defending champions have yet to realize the true potential of their star-packed squad, and we expect to see more goals from them in the coming matches. But for now, the Blues are playing efficiently, scoring just enough to win, and without conceding any goals.
How the bookies view it: The champions have the edge
This is a difficult fixture to bet on, even with Napoli's considerable advantage in every position. The good thing is that the odds are fantastic, regardless of whether you pick Fiorentina at 5/2 or Napoli at 5/4. Alternatively, you can also opt for the draw at 21/10, but keep in mind that these teams rarely split the points.
Recent head to head: Napoli love playing in Florence
Fiorentina have always been close to the Top 4 – good enough to cause everyone problems but not consistent enough to be competitive throughout the entire campaign. When it comes to this rivalry, Napoli have had more success in recent years, winning five of the last 10 H2Hs. For comparison, La Viola won three times, but their last triumph was in 2023. Since then, Napoli have won three out of four meetings, and usually by considerable margins.
Players to watch: An unexpected De Bruyne-Hojlund link-up
It still feels odd seeing Kevin De Bruyne with Napoli's blue colour instead of Manchester City's, but he seems to be loving his new life in Italy and finding his best form again.
The Belgian scored on his Serie A debut for the 2-0 win over Sassuolo, and then played a huge part in the 1-0 win over Cagliari. During the international break, he scored three goals and provided one assist in two games for Belgium. You can directly pick him to score, but we'd rather utilize Betano's option for him to score or assist at 9/5.
Alternatively, picking Rasmus Hojlund to score on his debut might be a good shout, but consider this a fun bet rather than a main pick, as we all know Hojlund is usually a hit or miss. He is available at 43/20.
Probable line-ups
Fiorentina: De Gea, Ranieri, Pongracic, Comuzzo, Sohm, Fagioli, Dodo, Mandragora, Gosens, Piccoli, Kean
Napoli: Meret, Olivera, Buongiorno, Beukema, Di Lorenzo, Lobotka, Anguissa, Politano, De Bruyne, McTominay, Hojlund
Anything else catch the eye?
Stadio Artemio Franchi has been one of Napoli's favourite stadiums to play at, as the Blues lost only once in their last 17 visits. They also won three of the last five games here. However, Fiorentina are not Cagliari or Sassuolo, and we expect a far more competitive matchup.
We even expect Napoli to concede their first goal of the season here, and potentially split the points, as La Viola have been almost flawless at home in 2025. Fiorentina have lost only once at home since February, and even beat Juventus, Atalanta, and Inter in the late stages of the previous campaign. Once again, this is an extremely difficult matchup to predict, so we will back the draw.
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