Lazio vs Napoli Betting Preview
Napoli kick off their 2018/19 Serie A campaign away to Lazio at Olimpico stadium in Rome. Coach Sarri left this summer for Chelsea, but his successor Carlo Ancelotti still has very good squad.
Napoli are undefeated in 35 of their last 38 matches in Serie A.
Napoli have scored at least three goals in their last three matches against Lazio in all competitions.
Lazio were quiet this summer, they haven’t made major moves in the window, but keeping Sergej Milinković-Savić is huge for the club. The Serb has been priced up at almost 150 million €, but the club have resisted any sale. Milinković-Savić stayed in club, but Felipe Anderson and Stefan de Vrij left.
Lazio have lost their last two friendlies, first they were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal, and then they lost 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund.
Lazio will begin the season with some absentees as three players are suspended (Senad Lulić, Lucas Leiva and Patric), while Jordan Lukaku is injured.
Napoli were excellent last season. They broke 90-point barrier, but unfortunately they became the first team to break this barrier in Serie without winning the title. However, this summer they stayed without their coach Maurizio Sarri who left to England. He was quickly replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, and generally the Italian public thinks this was a good move.
Sarri took Jorginho with him to Chelsea, but this was only major departure this summer. Fabian Ruiz should be his replacement in midfield, while Marek Hamšik is set to drop in to a playmaking role.
Napoli had mixed results during pre-season. They won 3-1 against Borussia Dortmund, but also lost 5-0 to Liverpool for example.
In his debut Ancelotti will be without injured Faouzi Ghoulam, Alex Meret and Amin Younes.
Odds and Predictions
I must say this one is tough to call and I will avoid picking a winner. On one hand, Napoli were terrific last year, they won 14 games on the road. Yet, they will be now under Ancelotti and I don’t really know what to expect from them. Probably he won’t change Napoli’s basic 4-3-3 setup, but the new manager has already made some style changes from his predecessor.
This is the reason why I will not bet on Napoli, despite the fact I consider them favorites, especially because Lazio have some important absences.
We have a clash of two attacking minded teams at Olimpico, so I think the best bet is on total goals. I believe both teams can score in Rome and that eventually we will see at least three goals in this match. I expected much lower odds for this bet, so I see certain value.
Editor's Pick
Total goals over 2.5 @1.65.
