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Inter fail to take advantage of Napoli's dip, drawing the derby with AC Milan
Published : 13 Feb 2025, 10:50 PM
With just one point dividing the top two, the Serie A title race gathers pace this weekend with leaders Napoli heading to the capital to take on Lazio while champions Inter Milan are away to Juventus.
Napoli will hope to make it third time lucky on Saturday after they lost back-to-back games against Lazio in December which saw them exit the Coppa Italia at the first hurdle and lose top spot in the standings to Atalanta.
Antonio Conte's men have since regained their place at the summit, putting together a run of eight successive wins before their progress was slowed with consecutive draws against AS Roma and Udinese.
Inter failed to take advantage of Napoli's dip, drawing the derby with AC Milan before slumping to a 3-0 defeat in Florence in their rescheduled game with Fiorentina last week.
There had been an asterisk hanging over Napoli's gap at the top with Inter having that game in hand after the original fixture with Fiorentina in December was suspended following the collapse of Edoardo Bove on the pitch.
Inter bounced back from that defeat to Fiorentina to beat the same opposition 2-1 at the San Siro on Monday, and with the same amount of games now played, Napoli are clinging to first place by the slimmest of margins.
Conte has been dealt a serious blow with David Neres suffering a thigh injury against Udinese, and the Brazilian winger could be out of action for at least a month.
Neres has started Napoli's last nine games, ever since Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's injury in the 1-0 loss to Lazio in December, and was seen as an able replacement now that the Georgian has left for Paris St Germain.
Giacomo Raspadori will likely replace Neres against Lazio, who come into this tie on the back of two league wins. Lazio lie fourth in the standings, 10 points off Napoli.
REJUVENATED JUVENTUS
Inter and Juventus were involved in one of the season's most entertaining games when they drew 4-4 at the San Siro in October.
That was one of 13 league draws this season for Juventus, which leaves them out of the Scudetto battle in fifth place and 12 points behind Napoli, but their confidence has been boosted by their recent form.
Juve suffered their first league defeat of the season at Napoli last month, but have since won two on the bounce and Randal Kolo Muani has netted five times in three league games since arriving on loan from PSG.
Inter have injury doubts ahead of Sunday's game, with both Marcus Thuram and Marko Arnautovic going off with knocks in the win over Fiorentina.
Atalanta, third in the standings and five points off top spot, will look to take advantage of any slip-ups by Napoli and Inter when they host Cagliari on Saturday.
Seventh-placed AC Milan have a home game against Hellas Verona on Saturday.
