AC MILAN v NAPOLI: OPPONENT REVIEW

The awaited team at the San Siro is a Napoli showing signs of recovery in their recent outings. Three victories, one draw, and one defeat (coming in numerical inferiority against Inter in the Italian Super Cup final) in their last five official matches give confidence to the blues ahead of the tough trip to San Siro. However, the recent matches between AC Milan and Napoli at the San Siro in Serie A have favored the Neapolitans, who have won all of their last three away matches in the league and could for the first time record four consecutive away victories against the Rossoneri in Serie A.

Overall, Napoli has remained unbeaten in their last eight away matches against AC Milan in the league (5W, 3D), with the last victory at the Meazza for the Milanese club dating back to 14 December, 2014 (2-0). Only once have the Blues recorded more away matches without defeat against the Rossoneri in the competition: nine between 1974 and 1984. Despite the considerable 14-point difference between the two teams, which haven't faced each other with such a gap in the standings since 21 March 2010, there are all the ingredients for an exciting match, like the first leg ending 2-2 - the two teams haven't drawn both seasonal Serie A encounters since 2019/20 (1-1 at San Siro and 2-2 at Maradona in that case).

NAPOLI RETAINS SOME TRAITS: BALL POSSESSION, HIGH PRESS, AND MANY SHOTS                                     Despite the blue game being far from what was showcased last season, Napoli has retained some characteristics, notably regarding ball possession. Napoli, in fact, with 60%, has the highest possession percentage among the teams in this championship. From high ball possession also derives the tendency to embroider maneuvered actions; in fact, Napoli is the team that has recorded the most sequences composed of at least 10 consecutive passes in this championship (348), and in 72 of these cases, the ball arrived in the opponent's penalty area, second only to Inter in Serie A (74).

Another element of Spalletti's memory is related to offensive pressing, one of the bulwarks of last season. Napoli has regained possession within a maximum of 40 meters from the opponent's goal 190 times, only Fiorentina (200) has more ball recoveries in this portion of the field in the current tournament. Also, in terms of shots, Napoli registers significant numbers: with 367 attempted shots, the Neapolitan team is the one that shoots the most in this championship, a figure however contrasted by a low conversion rate, only 8.7%, the second lowest after Torino (8.5%) among the teams at the top of the Serie A table.

STILL, WITHOUT OSIMHEN, NAPOLI RELIES ON KVARATSKHELIA, SIMEONE, AND POLITANO                                    In the upcoming clash against AC Milan, Napoli will once again be without their top man in attack, with Victor Osimhen still engaged in the Africa Cup of Nations. In particular, this will be the 10th match between AC Milan and Napoli since the arrival of the Nigerian in Italy in all competitions (since 2020/21), of which he has only played three. The Rossoneri are indeed the opponent against whom the former Lille player has missed the most official matches with Napoli (seven, including Sunday's). In the absence of Osimhen, Napoli will rely on the creativity and flair of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who scored a great goal from outside the box in the last match against Hellas Verona. However, the Georgian has not found the net for two consecutive Serie A appearances for almost a year (March 2023 against Atalanta and Torino). Moreover, AC Milan are the team against which Napoli's number 77 has played the most minutes wearing the blue shirt in all competitions (438 minutes in five matches) without scoring or providing an assist.

On the other hand, Giovanni Simeone has already scored against AC Milan, having netted three goals against the Rossoneri in Serie A, including the decisive one for Napoli's victory in the last league away match on 18 September 2022. In that same match, Matteo Politano opened the scoring with a penalty kick. The Napoli winger has scored a total of five goals against AC Milan in Serie A, against no other team has he scored more in the league (also five against Genoa). In particular, four of his five goals have come at San Siro: since 2016/17, only Edin Džeko (five) has scored more away goals against the Rossoneri in the league.

The 2023/24 AC Milan Fourth Kit is available: buy it now!