Two Serie A heavyweights will convene at Stadio Maradona on Sunday evening, as title-chasing Napoli host top-four hopefuls AC Milan.
The Partenopei continued to stumble before the international break, leaving them three points adrift of Milan's city rivals in an absorbing Scudetto race. With just nine games to go, they cannot afford to slip up again.
Match preview
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Playing ahead of title rivals Inter Milan and Atalanta BC, who met later that day, Napoli had the chance to seize top spot in Serie A as they visited Venezia for their final game before the break.
Victory at Stadio Penzo would have piled pressure on their fellow contenders, but another unconvincing display saw Antonio Conte's side forced to settle for a goalless draw.
Inter's subsequent success in Bergamo leaves the Partenopei three points behind Italy's reigning champions with nine rounds remaining, as a defining part of the campaign gets under way.
Since the start of February, Napoli have won only one of seven Serie A matches - one more failure than throughout their first 22 this season - but they are still intent on claiming a second Scudetto in three years.
Conte, for one, will never give up, particularly as Atalanta are also falling away and Inter must complete a packed run-in, competing on three separate fronts.
Coming into Sunday's contest, Napoli have 14 points more on the board than Milan, who they beat 2-0 at San Siro in October, with Romelu Lukaku and the much-missed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both finding the target.
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While they were defeated on home turf when the teams last met, Milan are actually unbeaten in six games at Stadio Maradona across all competitions - including a clash in the 2023 Champions League quarter-finals.
The Rossoneri have never gone seven successive games without losing in Naples throughout their long and illustrious history, but they are now just 90 minutes away from doing so.
Easing a sense of crisis surrounding the club earlier in March, Milan turned to their two most reliable performers to bail them out against Como just before international football intervened for the final time this season.
Tijjani Reijnders and Christian Pulisic struck to see off their ambitious Lombardy rivals at San Siro, overturning a one-goal deficit at half time.
After a previous comeback against Lecce - in which Pulisic bagged a brace - Milan could now win three league games in a row for the first time since September, when Paulo Fonseca was still in charge.
His replacement, fellow Portuguese coach Sergio Conceicao, may have started off by lifting the Supercoppa Italiana, but the rumour mill suggests he will not stay beyond the end of the current campaign - Conte has been tipped by some as his replacement.
Amid acrimony on and off the pitch, ninth-placed Milan have accrued only 47 points so far: over the past 20 years, just one team with such a low tally at this stage of a Serie A season ultimately finished inside the top four.
Team News
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Although David Neres is back in full training, Napoli's formation change to a 3-5-2 - prompted by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's departure and his replacement's subsequent injury - is not likely be reversed.
Italy striker Giacomo Raspadori should therefore partner Romelu Lukaku, who has been directly involved in eight goals in just 818 minutes of play against Milan.
Frank Anguissa's recent layoff has also hit the Partenopei's title hopes, and another fitness issue for the Cameroon star will see Billy Gilmour join Stanislav Lobotka and Scott McTominay in central midfield.
As Alessandro Florenzi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have both returned to action of late, only Emerson Royal will be missing from Milan's squad due to injury; Yunus Musah must serve a suspension.
Once again, Santiago Gimenez and Tammy Abraham will vie to start up front, but there should be no doubt about the presence of USA international Christian Pulisic.
Since he joined the Rossoneri last season, the American is one of only two Serie A players to have both scored at least 30 goals and provided at least 15 assists across all competitions, along with Atalanta's Ademola Lookman.
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno; Politano, Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay, Olivera; Raspadori, Lukaku
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Walker, Thiaw, Gabbia, Hernandez; Bondo, Fofana; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Abraham
We say: Napoli 2-1 AC Milan
There are potentially plenty of twists and turns in store at Stadio Maradona, as Milan and Napoli are both inside Serie A's top four for points gained from losing positions.
The Rossoneri have fought back several times under Sergio Conceicao - including twice earlier this month - but overturning an Antonio Conte-led side may be beyond them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
