Napoli vs Venezia Preview: Team News & Prediction

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Title challenging Napoli are now the hunters ahead of this weekend as they continue to chase Atalanta at the top-of-the-table. They take on a struggling Venezia side in Naples this week.

Kick-off date/time: Sunday 29th December, 2024: UK – 2:00pm / US ET – 9:00am / US PT – 6:00am

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule

How to watch online: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+

Napoli Preview: Napoli on the push

With Antonio Conte at the helm and after a summer of spending over £100 million in the transfer window, Napoli have propelled themselves into the Serie A title race after a disappointing season in which they finished ninth and missed out on UEFA competition.

The Neapolitans have put in plenty of low-scoring and underwhelming performances but they now come into this one on the back a 2-1 defeat of Patrick Vieira’s Genoa at the Luigi Ferraris thanks to goals from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Amir Rrahmani.

Venezia Preview: Big win last weekend

Venezia lost manager Paolo Vanoli to Torino over the summer after he had led the Venetians to the top-flight last season. He was replaced by the often tactically naïve Eusebio Di Francesco, who most recently oversaw Frosinone’s relegation down to Serie B last year.

The visitors now come into this one on the back of a much-needed 2-1 defeat of fellow strugglers Cagliari at Pier Luigi Penzo Stadium last weekend. They do remain tucked inside the bottom three and the relegation places ahead of the match day.

Napoli Team News: No Buongiorno

Italy international centre-back Alessandro Buongiorno is sidelined for Napoli this weekend due to a back injury, whilst Portugal full-back Mario Rui is also still unavailable with midfielder Pasquale Mazzocchi a doubt due to a calf issue.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Juan, Mathias Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Politano, Lukaku, Kvaratskhelia

Unavailable: Buongiorno (Injured), Mario Rui (Injured)

Questionable: Mazzocchi (Injured)

Venezia Team News: Svoboda out and Duncan a doubt

Defender Michael Svoboda is unavailable for this weekend against Napoli due to a knee injury. As well as the absence of Svoboda, Venezia also have a couple of injury doubts such as Alfred Duncan and Antonio Raimondo.

Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Stankovic; Altare, Idzes, Sverko; Zampano, Andersen, Caviglia, Ellertsson; Oristanio, Busio; Pohjanpalo

Unavailable: Svoboda (Injured)

Questionable: Duncan (Injured), Raimondo (Injured)

Napoli vs Venezia Prediction

Napoli don’t really take the game to the opposition but that is perhaps not by design. Antonio Conte is famed for implementing a defensive discipline that is balanced by attacking automatisms that haven’t quite clicked just yet. They now face a Venezia side that have been a bit tighter under Di Francesco but have remained poor, albeit have enjoyed a recent slight improvement. That said, Napoli are the firm favourites for this one, especially with their home advantage.

Napoli vs Venezia Tip: Napoli to win -1 handicap