Napoli v Salernitana, the Campania Derby

A Campanian derby unfolds at the Maradona as Napoli host Salernitana. Napoli want to change course in the second round after earning 22 points less than the previous year at the halfway mark. The reigning Scudetto winners have garnered only one point in the last three matches and lost four of their first nine home games (3W, 2D) this season. In Serie A history, Napoli had only suffered more home defeats at this stage of the season once, six times in 1997/98, finishing 18th and subsequently getting relegated to Serie B. Salernitana, after drawing with AC Milan and securing a crucial away win against Verona, suffered losses to Juventus in both the Coppa Italia and the league. While the survival is within three points, Pippo Inzaghi's men must improve their standing in the Serie A TIM table.

DID YOU KNOW?

For the first time in the history of Serie A, the reigning champions from the previous campaign finished the first half of the season with a gap of 20+ points from the leaders; the previous negative record belonged to Inter, when they were 15 points from first place in 1930-31 (counting 2 points per victory). Salernitana won their last away league match, against Hellas Verona, and could win two in a row for only the second time in Serie A: the first one was in April 2022, against Sampdoria and Udinese, under Davide Nicola.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Salernitana have not won any of their seven matches in Serie A against Napoli, with three draws and four defeats in the process, including the reverse fixture on last November (0-2 at home). Against no other team have the Granata played more matches in the top-flight without ever winning (7 matches also v Torino). Napoli have remained unbeaten in each of their last 11 matches against Salernitana in all competitions: seven wins and four draws in this period, also keeping seven clean sheets; the Granata's last victory against Napoli dates back to 24 November 2002, when they won 2-0 away from home in Serie B. Napoli have not lost any of their 14 home games against Salernitana in all competitions (W9 D5); only against four other teams have the Neapolitans played more home matches in all competitions without ever losing: Cesena (22), Ascoli (19), Pescara (16) and Cremonese (15).

PLAYERS

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been directly involved in 30 goals (17 goals, 13 assists) in the last two Serie A seasons, and could become only the second player born from 2001 onwards to record more than 30 involvements in the period in the big five European Leagues, after Bukayo Saka (37). One of Simy's six braces in Serie A came against Napoli, with Crotone at Maradona, on 3 April 2021; the Nigerian’s last goal came on 10 December against Bologna, 785 days after the previous one, away against Spezia on 16 October 2021.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: Mazzocchi (Napoli); Maggiore (Salernitana) Cautioned: Cajuste, Juan Jesus, Mario Rui, Di Lorenzo e Kvaratskhelia (Napoli); Gyomber, Bradaric e Kastanos (Salernitana)

REFEREE

Marinelli (Lo Cicero-Vecchi), IV: Marchetti, VAR: Di Bello, AVAR: Chiffi

UPCOMING MATCHES

Napoli-Fiorentina (Thursday 18 January, 20:00 CET), EA SPORTS SUPERCUP FC Salernitana-Genoa (Sunday 20 January, 18:00 CET) (Photo LaPresse)