Tactical Battles That Will Shape Napoli's Clash with Inter Milan
Napoli will hope to build on their superb victory over Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday rather than feel sorry for themselves after they were cruelly dumped out of the competition, despite amassing 12 points.
In a huge game, the Partenopei face Inter, which will see Walter Mazzarri face his old team for the first time.
Rafael Benitez knows that Inter could be one of their rivals for a place in the top three and will hope to win this game in order to refocus attention on catching Juventus at the top of the table.
Inter, on the other hand, will hope that a positive run of results in the remaining games before Christmas can leave them in a good position before investing heavily in January to boost their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Here are some of the key tactical duels that await us.
Hugo Campagnaro vs. Gonzalo Higuain
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Gonzalo Higuain proved exactly why Napoli outbid Arsenal in the summer to secure his services.
Pipita scored a stunning goal to win the Partenopei the match, and Azzurri fans will hope that he can boost their title hopes after their Champions League dreams were ended.
Hugo Campagnaro will be the man that Walter Mazzarri will ask to stop the former Real Madrid striker.
Both players are familiar with each other from their time with the Argentine national team, and Campagnaro's swift movement across the back line will be crucial to snuff out the deadly Napoli striker.
Higuain's movement and sublime first touch—which he demonstrated to devastating effect versus Arsenal—will be the most dangerous thing that the Nerazzurri must combat, so if Campagnaro can keep a watchful eye and prevent him from working any space, Inter will stand a great chance of winning the game.
Gokhan Inler vs. Rodrigo Palacio
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Gokhan Inler will have a huge responsibility at the weekend with doubts remaining over Valon Behrami's fitness.
Without the former West Ham midfielder, Inler will have to provide the defensive discipline with Blerim Dzemaili alongside him, who tends to push forward.
Rodrigo Palacio will play at the tip of the Inter side, but the Argentine shines most when he drops into the pocket of space between the midfield and defence of the opposition.
If Inler can monitor the former Genoa star's movement and ensure that Inter's supply line is cut off, Napoli will prevent the onrushing midfielders from opening up their defence.
Jonathan vs. Lorenzo Insigne
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Jonathan will have to curb is attacking instincts this weekend when Inter encounters Napoli, as Lorenzo Insigne will be a huge danger playing from the left side.
Insigne injected some urgency to the Napoli attack when he came on against Arsenal, and he should be rewarded with a start ahead of Jose Callejon or Dries Mertens for this game.
By pulling wide and dribbling at pace towards goal, Insigne can open up any defence, and his combination with Callejon for Napoli's second goal in that game shows that he cannot be allowed the time and space to create these type of situations.
Jonathan has delivered a steady service of crosses in recent weeks, but this will have to be something that Inter will need to do without, at least to an extent, initially.
If Inter can keep it tight and frustrate Napoli, Jonathan may then find opportunities to venture forward.
