Napoli and Monza face each other on the afternoon of this Friday, December 29, 2023, starting at 2:30 pm in a game valid for the 18th round of the Italian Serie A, at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, in the city of Naples.
Napoli
Still without being able to count on Mathias Oliveira, Natan, Lobotka and Elmas, who are injured, the Napoli team also arrives for this match needing to deal with the absences of Osimnhen and Politano, who received a red card in the last round and will serve an automatic suspension in this round.
However, the Napolitan team has already suffered two consecutive defeats this season and can no longer afford to lose, especially at home, where they suffered a crushing 4-0 defeat to Frosinone, culminating in their early elimination from the Italian Cup.
In their most recent duel, Napoli faced Roma away from home in Serie A and ended up getting the worst of it, losing 2-0.
There were 2 wins, no draws and 3 defeats in the last 5 official matches of the season, beating Braga and Cagliari, in addition to losing to Juventus, Frosinone and also to Roma.
Currently, the club is in seventh place on the Italian Serie A leaderboard, with 27 points achieved so far, only one less than Roma, which currently opens the G-6 of the competition.
Playing as home team at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, the Napoli team has a recent record of 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats in the last 10 games played.
Monza
On the other side is the Monza team, which in turn has two consecutive defeats in the competition and seeks to rehabilitate itself while there is still time to close the gap between its team and the G-6.
In the last round, the red and white team faced Fiorentina and even playing at home they were unable to avoid the defeat with a minimum score of 1-0, frustrating their fans who expected a better outcome.
In the last 5 officially played matches of the season, only 1 win, 1 draw and 3 defeats were recorded. During this period the team showed strength by defeating Genoa and drawing with Cagliari, in addition to losing to Milan, Fiorentina and also Juventus.
Currently, the team is in a discreet 11th place in the Italian elite, with 21 points achieved so far, seven points away from the access zone for European competitions.
Playing as a visitor, Monza has a recent record with 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats in the last 10 games played.
Conclusion:
It is natural that Napoli are listed as big favorites to face an opponent with a downward bias and still have control of the field in their favor at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, however, I believe that the recent defeats of the Naples team served to create a certain distrust at oddsmakers, who offer very high odds for what would normally be Napoli’s victory this Friday.