AC Milan v Napoli – Sunday 5th February – San Siro (21:45)
The Italian Serie A has reached the home stretch and it looks like it will go down to the wire. These two teams are both title contenders and will be looking to put a dent in either’s title hopes.
AC Milan are flying high in the league as they have put together a rich run of form. They currently sit 2nd on the table, a single point off the log leaders Juventus. They are coming off a convincing 3-0 win at home to lower ranked team Cagliari and have only been defeated at the San Siro once this year to arch rivals Inter Milan. However AC Milan has the best goal scoring recorded with 43 goals in 20 matches played and also boasts one of the most lethal strike forces in Europe. Zlatan Ibrahimović is a man on a mission as he tops the goals charts with a whopping 15 goals in 20 matches, the lanky Swedish striker seems to be scoring for fun these days as he scored in Milan’s last 4 matches and has struck up a dangerous partnership with Robinho and Alexandre Pato and manager Massimiliano Allegri has also added Argentinean Maxi Lopez to bring in experience. AC Milan is on a hunt to retain their title and they look a good bet to do so.
Napoli has dropped off the pace in recent times and finds themselves lagging in 7th place on the log. They have been letting points slip away to the lower ranked teams but have had better luck against the top dogs as they downed Inter Milan 2-0 at home. One would have expected Napoli to push on from such a positive result, but that was not the case as they lost to Genoa 3-2 in an action packed encounter. Napoli has not been the greatest on their travels and this is the ultimate reason to their downfall in the league. Manager Walter Mazzarri has had nothing but praise for his in-form striker Edinson Cavani and creative midfielder Marek Hamsík as they have been the most consistent players in the team and will do everything in his power to hold on to the pair as Europe’s elite are all looking to snap them up. Napoli has the players to push on and should be right up there come end of the season.
This game will be full of attacking presence but AC Milan’s home form will be the key to their success. AC Milan should have the edge in this clash.
