Football Previews
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis hopes his team can maintain their winning momentum and beat Empoli in Tuscany on Thursday. The azzurri are riding a three-match winning streak in Serie A that has put them firmly in contention for a top-three finish and a spot in next season’s Champions League. The Naples outfit, following 3-0 wins over Fiorentina and Cagliari, defeated Sampdoria 4-2 last weekend to climb into fourth place. They are just one point behind third-place Roma and three adrift of second-top Lazio with six games remaining. “We took an important win against Sampdoria,” De Laurentiis said to the Italian press. “We hope that our players can remain concentrated and continue like this until the end of the season.” Napoli, who will take on Ukrainian side Dnipro in the semi-finals of the Europa League next month, have not shown any weakness during their hot streak. Empoli are unbeaten at home since January 26 but have not won a Serie A game since March 22 and have collected two points since. Last weekend’s 2-2 result at Atalanta was their second straight draw and dropped the Tuscan outfit to 16th place, 12 points clear of the relegation zone. “I prefer to focus on the positives and our recent performances have been good,” Empoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. “I’m optimistic heading into our last six games of the season.” Empoli are without defender Lorenzo Tonelli, who must serve a one-match ban as punishment for trying to intimidate Atalanta forward German Denis. Tonelli allegedly threatened to kill Denis and his family during their game on Sunday. After the final whistle, Denis charged into the Empoli changing room and punched Tonelli. The visitors are without midfielders Juan Zuniga and Jonathan De Guzman, with both sidelined through injury. Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuain, who struck twice against Samp to increase his season tally to 15 goals, will lead Napoli’s attack.
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Team
MP
W
D
L
F
A
G
P
1
SSC Napoli
12
8
2
2
19
9
+10
26
2
Atalanta
12
8
1
3
31
15
+16
25
3
Fiorentina
12
7
4
1
25
10
+15
25
4
Inter Milan
12
7
4
1
26
14
+12
25
5
Lazio
12
8
1
3
25
14
+11
25
6
Juventus
12
6
6
0
21
7
+14
24
7
AC Milan
11
5
3
3
20
14
+6
18
8
Bologna
11
4
6
1
15
13
+2
18
9
Udinese
12
5
1
6
15
18
-3
16
10
Empoli
12
3
6
3
9
10
-1
15
11
Torino
12
4
2
6
15
18
-3
14
12
Roma
12
3
4
5
14
17
-3
13
13
Parma
12
2
6
4
16
18
-2
12
14
Verona
12
4
0
8
17
27
-10
12
15
Como
12
2
4
6
13
23
-10
10
16
Cagliari
12
2
4
6
12
22
-10
10
17
Genoa
12
2
4
6
9
22
-13
10
18
Lecce
12
2
3
7
5
21
-16
9
19
Monza
12
1
5
6
10
15
-5
8
20
Venezia
12
2
2
8
11
21
-10
8
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