Napoli are looking to put a disappointing league season behind them will be keen to make it two wins out of two on Sunday, having already started their Serie A campaign with a 2-0 win over Parma.

However, their opponents Genoa beat Crotone 4-1 in their opening game and sit at the top of the fledgling league table. Genoa narrowly avoided relegation last season and will hope to survive more comfortably this term.

Match preview

Napoli's Elseid Hysaj in Serie A action with Genoa's Domenico Criscito on April 7, 2019 © Reuters

After finishing second in three of the previous four Serie A campaigns (finishing third on the other occasion), Napoli slipped to a disappointing seventh last season, 21 points off champions Juventus.

However, they did best the Bianconeri in the Coppa Italia final on penalties, salvaging their poor league campaign somewhat.

Gennaro Gattuso's side have tried to take that positivity into this season, and started with a confident 2-0 win over Parma.

They also picked up four points from their two league meetings with Genoa last term and may feel confident of continuing their strong start on Sunday.

Genoa finished just outside the relegation zone last season, with a mere four points between them and Lecce.

This season, they've kicked off the campaign with a win and they will hope to avoid the long winless streaks that plagued them last term, going four or more league games without a win on four separate occasions.

Their early win over newly-promoted Crotone will have been a boost to confidence but, in Napoli, they face a far more dangerous opponent.

Napoli's form picked up significantly after Carlo Ancelotti was replaced by Gennaro Gattuso in December last year, and they are unlikely to be as poor in the league as they were in the first half of last season.

Napoli Serie A form: W

Genoa Serie A form: W

Team News

Genoa celebrate a goal against AC Milan in Serie A in March 2020 © Reuters

Napoli head coach Gattuso is fortunate to be without any injury problems ahead of the visit of Genoa on Sunday.

Kalidou Koulibaly started against Parma despite rumours of interest from Manchester City and will likely do so again this weekend.

As for Genoa, head coach Rolando Maran also has an injury-free squad to choose from as his side travel to Naples.

New arrival Davide Zappacosta - on loan from Chelsea - made his debut against Crotone alongside Miha Zajc - on loan from Fenerbahce.

Milan Badelj also made his full debut after joining from Lazio and all three are likely to retain their places.

Napoli possible starting lineup:
Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Hysaj; Ruiz, Demme, Zielinski; Lozano, Mertens, Insigne

Genoa possible starting lineup:
Perin; Goldaniga, Zapata, Biraschi; Ghiglione, Lerager, Badelj, Zajc, Zappacosta; Pandev, Destro

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We say: Napoli 2-1 Genoa

Genoa may put up more resistance than their league position last season suggests they might, but Napoli have plenty of quality and should come out on top.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Napoli win with a probability of 67.45%. A draw had a probability of 19% and a win for Genoa had a probability of 13.58%.

The most likely scoreline for a Napoli win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.44%) and 2-1 (9.78%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (8.99%), while for a Genoa win it was 0-1 (4.13%). The actual scoreline of 6-0 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Napoli would win this match.