Serie A: Napoli’s 100 per-centers Set Their Sights on Torino

Serie A: Napoli’s 100 per-centers Set Their Sights on Torino

Napoli vs Torino

First faces 11th as Serie A swings back into action this weekend when league leaders Napoli host mid-table Torino at the Diego Maradona Stadium for a Sunday afternoon fiesta.

In top spot with a maximum 21 points from seven games, Napoli have got off to a storming start and the Serie A 2021 betting odds have taken notice, collapsing the price on a Naples Serie A celebration to 3.75. 

Scudetto holders Inter Milan are shorter at SBOTOP odds of 3.10 and amazingly Juventus are out at 5.00 with AC Milan at 6.00.

It promises to be a fantastic title race this term. But at the moment, Napoli are the team to catch and Torino better be on their guard.

After a difficult season last term embroiled in a relegation battle, Il Toro have made a steady start to this campaign but I expect the rampant hosts to send them back home to Turin empty-handed.    

Talking Points

Napoli have become genuine contenders

With a stunning set of Serie A 2021 results to kick off the 2021/22 campaign, Napoli fans are in seventh heaven.

They opened the season with wins over Venezia and Genoa before putting down a real marker with a 2-1 victory over Juventus. 

They came back from a goal behind with an outstanding second half performance, dominating possession at over 65-per cent and raining down 25 shots on the Old Lady’s goal.

Two 4-0 away wins against Sampdoria and Udinese really made opponents sit up and notice and victories over Cagliari and away to Fiorentina completed the magnificent seven.

The only blemish on Napoli’s progress has been in Europe where they went down to a 2-3 defeat to Spartak Moscow, but in Serie A they have been imperious.

22-year-old Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen is in joint-fourth place in the race for the Capocannoniere with four goals from six appearances.

At 6-foot-3 he’s a real handful, scoring 14 goals in 30 appearances for Napoli and eight in 16 for Nigeria.

In Naples, he has some of Serie A’s best strikers alongside him with Lorenzo Insigne –who had an outstanding Euro 2020 with the Azzurri — already contributing two goals and three assists while Mexican striker Hirving Lozano is pushing for a start.

Napoli have a strong core with Polish star Piotr Zielinski pulling the strings in midfield. Centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly bosses the defence while also weighing in with two goals and they have the ever-reliable David Ospina in the nets.

With a Europa League clash against Legia Warsaw coming up, head coach Luciano Spalletti will have to weigh up his priorities.

The Polish club have taken Group C by storm by winning their openers. And with Leicester City in the group too, it could be a tough group to navigate.

Champions League is a priority for Spalletti and the best chance of achieving that is a top four place in Serie A, so expect a full strength line-up to face Torino.   

Torino seeking stability

Croatian head coach Ivan Juric came to Torino with a strong reputation, steering Hellas Verona to a top 10 position last term, and he has already brought some stability to Torino who suffered a horrid campaign in 2020/21.

A year ago they were 17th with five points and they pretty much stayed there throughout the season, whereas they are now in 11th place with eight points.

It’s certainly an upgrade, but two draws and then a 0-1 defeat in the Turin derby have stalled any early ideas of challenging for Europe.

Juric has organised Il Toro at the back and they have only conceded seven goals in their opening seven games with David Zima and Ricardo Rodriguez starring. But they have struggled for goals at times, scoring nine all season and just three in the last four games.

The strikers have shared around the few goals scored with Marko Pjaca leading the way with two while Andrea Belotti, Simone Verdi, and Josip Brekalo have one each.

The experienced Belotti is out injured and only has two games under his belt and he’s expected to make a big impact when he returns as Torino aim for at least a top 10 finish under their new head coach.    

History

Napoli have had the better of the head-to-head meetings by winning 15 of the last 32, losing fivem and drawing nine.

And in the most recent encounter, Napoli won 0-2 in Turin in April as Osimhen scored a breakaway clincher.

In terms of recent form, Napoli have won four of the last six while stuttering only in Europe. Meanwhile, Torino have won two of the last six.  

Betting Tip

Napoli Asian Handicap -1.25 @ 1.96

At 1.39 to win, the hosts are looking nailed on to make it eight victories from eight with the draw at 4.07 and Torino at 8.20.

Juric has organised Torino to be competitive and they will be hard to break down, but Napoli’s greater firepower should win the day. 

Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.

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