After the humiliating home defeat to AC Milan last time out, Napoli will be targeting a swift return to winning ways as they travel to Lecce for a Friday night Championship fixture.
Lecce have found things difficult in recent weeks and head into Friday’s clash with five straight defeats. While they still hold an eight-point gap over the bottom three, there is still enough time to get dragged into the relegation zone, so a swift turnaround is required.
Marco Baroni’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat to Empoli in their previous Serie A fixture. They struggled to create much in attack, finishing with no attempt on target throughout the encounter as the result left them without a goal in their last five matches.
Things have been just as rough for Lecce at home as they are winless in their last five matches at the Stadio Comunale Via del Mare. They have suffered three defeats in that run while also failing to score in the last two fixtures in front of their fans.
Napoli are coming off a rare defeat as they were beaten 4-0 at home by AC Milan in their previous Serie A fixture. It was an uncharacteristically poor performance as they looked blunt in attack without injured top scorer Victor Osimhen.
While it was a disappointing defeat for Napoli, it had little effect on their Serie A standings as the huge gap at the top means they have a major buffer to withstand results like this. Luciano Spalletti’s men remain 16 points clear of second placed Lazio and are still on course to win a first Scudetto in 30 years.
Although the result has not affected them much, Napoli will still be keen to make a swift return to winning ways. They have won their last seven away matches across all competitions, keeping clean sheets in all seven wins.
How the bookies view it
Despite the disappointing result last time out, Napoli are still considered overwhelming favourites among the bookies at 13/20 with William Hill. Lecce are considered outsiders at home at 24/5 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 14/5 by BoyleSports.
Head to head
Napoli have an 8-5 advantage with eight draws from 21 previous matches with Lecce. The reverse fixture back in August ended in a 1-1 draw.
Players to watch
In the absence of Victor Osimhen, Kvichia Kvaratskhelia will be the one to watch for Napoli as he looks to add to his 12 Serie A goals. The winger has also scored in two of the last three Serie A matches and is priced at 19/10 with Unibet.
Napoli may have conceded four last time out but they still boast the best defensive record in Serie A this season led by Kim Min-Jae and Amir Rrahmani. Having kept clean sheets in the last seven away matches, a similar outcome could be on the cards at evens with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Napoli have won to nil in their last seven away matches across all competitions and could be set for a repeat at 8/5 with BetVictor. A number of results in that run have been one-sided which means a -1 handicap could also be considered at 2/1 with BetVictor.
The Neapolitans have scored in both halves in two of their last three away matches and Friday’s clash could be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 19/10 with Coral.
This Serie A match between Lecce and Napoli will be played on Apr 7, 2023 and kick off at 18:00. Check below for our tipsters best Lecce vs Napoli prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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