Returning to action after the disappointing international break (for Italy at least!), we get this heavyweight fight between 2nd place Milan and 3rd place Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, two teams separated by just a point. Also important, both teams are 9 and 10 points back, respectively, of 1st place Inter after they won their game yesterday, and need a win if they have any hopes of turning this Scudetto race into an actual race. The loser can kiss their Scudetto hopes goodbye…
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
NAPOLI: LWWWW
MILAN: LWWLW
FORMATIONS
NAPOLI (3-4-2-1) *Predicted*: Milinković-Savić; Beukema, Buongiorno, Olivera; Politano, Anguissa, Lobotka, Spinazzola; De Bruyne, McTominay; Højlund
MILAN (3-5-2) *Predicted*: Maignan (C); Tomori, De Winter, Pavlović; Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modrić, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Nkunku
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 2:45pm EST/7:45pm GMT
PLACE: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye (Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes in the US); FuboTV and TLN for Canada; TNT in the UK (maybe?); ESPN for Mexico; DAZN for Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a website called GXR for our friends in India; and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
*Let us know if this needs updating or if you have additional broadcasters to add*
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
Calcio is back and so are we! Finally! I’ve never liked international breaks and I think it’s a stupid way to structure league and national team obligations. But that’s for a different post. Today we focus on beating Napoli and Conte, maybe my least-liked coach.
Today’s game will be important in determining final league table placement and what pool Milan and Napoli find themselves in for Champions League when group stage games are drawn. As of today, catching Inter is going to be tough after Inter’s beatdown of Roma yesterday, but a loss today will pretty much shut the Scudetto door for either team. With Milan beating Napoli in the reverse league fixture earlier this season, maintaining their tiebreaker will require just a draw today…but going up against Conte means I want a WIN.
For Milan, Leão is still recovering from his season-long injury and as of right now isn’t slated to start and I’m not even sure he’ll dress. Who will start up top is the most uncertain as of this writing, with some sites and Twitter noise saying it’ll be Nkunku and Füllkrug leading the attack while FotMob is saying it’ll be Pulisic and Nkunku. My choice would probably be the former but Milan is likely to sit vs Napoli so maybe having Pulisic’s speed and playmaking would help on the counter? For the rest of the team, Gabbia is still out so the rest of the lineup will be very similar to the Torino game from 2 weeks ago.
For Napoli, they are suffering through some injuries and Lukaku, one who has historically given Milan some issues, isn’t like to play (and has maybe been feuding with Conte and management?…who cares, LOL). I am looking forward to seeing Modrić and De Bruyne on the pitch together maybe for the last time? A sign of the changing times.
PREDICTION TIME:
This is going to be a close game. I’m leaning draw for the outcome but if we do get a winner, it’ll be a narrow 1-goal margin. But I want this one. Let’s help make some of Conte’s plugs fall out.
Forza Milan
gillis