Napoli continue to be the main contenders to win the title and Inter's loss to Fiorentina during the week guaranteed them a three-point lead. To keep it, they need to deal with the Udinese once again.
The Parthenopeans continue to capitalise on the fact that they are not involved in any of UEFA's tournaments, and hardly make any mistakes in Serie A. Last round's draw against Roma was their first misstep since the beginning of December, and they won seven wins in a row in that span.
More importantly, that winning streak includes triumphs against Juventus, Atalanta, and Fiorentina. Overall, their football is phenomenal, and they currently deserve to win the title. Antonio Conte has transformed their style, and although they are behind in goal-scoring, their defence is many times better than any other in the league.
Napoli have conceded just 16 goals in 23 rounds so far and will now face a team that boasts the exact opposite – an appallingly poor defence and 36 goals conceded in 23 games. You can definitely see an improvement in Udinese's play, which earned them a place in the top half of the table, but their defence will suffer against Napoli's attackers. The Friulians concede an average of 1.72 goals in their away games and that's not a good sign because their previous away games to Napoli were quite tough.
How the bookies view it: The Blues always have the advantage
Bookmakers support the home side, giving them a huge advantage in the odds. You can pick Napoli at 9/20, the draw at 7/2, or Udinese to win at 13/2.
Recent head to head: Extremely one-sided
There are few rivalries in Serie A where only one team dominates, but this is one of the most extreme examples. Napoli have dominated Udinese for years now, with the Friulians' last win dating back to 2016. Since then, Napoli have won 15 times and the other three meetings ended in draws. Additionally, we can say that Napoli have 11 consecutive wins as hosts against this opponent.
Players to watch: Anguissa to punish Udinese again
Napoli have too many scorers in the current campaign and it is quite difficult to pick one to trust. Lukaku will always be the main threat in front of the opponent's goal, but we're going to try a riskier bet, namely Frank Anguissa to score. The Cameroonian is in top form and scored two goals + two assists in his last four games. He also scored one of the goals against Udinese earlier in the season.
Probable line-ups
Napoli: Meret, Spinazzola, Jesus, Rrahmani, Lorenzo, McTominay, Lobotka, Anguissa, Neres, Lukaku, Politano
Udinese: Sava, Kristensen, Bijol, Solet, Modesto, Lovric, Karlstrom, Payero, Kamara, Thauvin, Lucca
Anything else catch the eye?
As bad as Udinese's form has been, they somehow always manage to score on Napoli. As we've already told you, the hosts have won almost every H2H in the last decade, but Udinese have only failed to score in one of their last 10 clashes. That might change with this game because Napoli's defence is on a whole other level this campaign.
But we can easily expect a goal-packed encounter because each of Napoli's last five home games against Udinese covered the 3+ goal line. And earlier in the season, we already saw a 1-3 between the two teams in the reverse fixture.
This Serie A match between Napoli and Udinese will be played on Feb 9, 2025 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Napoli vs Udinese prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
