Serie A is back this weekend, and on Saturday we have three of the 10 scheduled games taking place. The first to kick off sees one of the most talked about teams of the season so far, Napoli, and they are at home, taking on Genoa. Both sides are in the middle of the table as we work through the second half of the season.
Napoli Form GuideA fascinating story, I think we are slowly beginning to see the best of Napoli this season, but I would add to that and say that the best this season is still nothing compared to the best of them last season. They head into the weekend in 9th with 35 points, that puts them seven behind the top four race, but just three off the top six.
Their league form is on the up, they've won two and drawn one of their last three, with just one defeat as they look to steady the ship. But that defeat did come last weekend, as they lost 1-0 against AC Milan, a side in 3rd and going well. Wins have come over Salernitana and Verona recently, it's still not great, but is better.
Genoa Form GuideGo down the table three places from Napoli and you will find Genoa. They are in 12th with 29 points, so six behind Napoli, and are destined for mid table at best, though if they were to finish anywhere around the mid table area, it would be deemed a successful season for them.
But Genoa do come here on the back of a big defeat as they lost 3-1 at home to Atalanta last weekend. Before that, a draw with Empoli, and three games ago saw them get their last win, a 2-1 narrow home success over Lecce. When Genoa come up against the better sides in this league, they do seem to lack the quality to take all three points.
Match PredictionI see this one being tight, but I think Napoli have shown enough recently to make me think they can get three points on the board. It's still not perfect, but they're on the rise, and three more points here would help them in their quest to make the top six.