Another flying start to the Serie A season sees free-scoring Napoli meet Fiorentina on Sunday night, boasting maximum points so far.
After they surged to the top of the standings this time last year, Luciano Spalletti's men are at it again - with nine goals from their first two league games - while their hosts have been kept goalless twice in the past few days.
Match preview
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Following a summer of comings and goings - with a number of established names walking through the exit - Napoli's new era has started in the best possible manner: with a pair of comprehensive wins from the opening rounds of their 2022-23 campaign.
A 5-2 victory over Verona kicked off the season in style, and the Azzurri followed that up by crushing promoted Monza last Sunday. There have been six different scorers among their nine goals so far - a club record tally at this stage.
Victor Osimhen struck his second goal in as many games, putting his side two goals ahead at half time at Stadio Maradona, while new signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia took his tally to three with a well-taken brace in what turned out to be a 4-0 win.
Stretching back to the end of last season, when they missed out on finally reclaiming the Scudetto by faltering in the final weeks, Napoli have won their last three away matches, and having bolstered their attacking options during the last week, coach Luciano Spalletti will expect to extend that streak further.
Not only have former Fiorentina striker Giovanni Simeone and Italy international Giacomo Raspadori now joined Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia in a new-look forward department, but the Campanian club have been particularly successful in Florence during the recent past.
Napoli have won each of their last three games at Stadio Artemio Franchi, always scoring at least twice, and their early form suggests that more goals could be on the cards this weekend.
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While they have recently struggled against Napoli on home soil, Fiorentina emerged 3-2 winners in the clubs' last league meeting in April, and they could now beat their southern rivals in successive Serie A games for the first time this century.
Not since the late 90s have the Viola managed such a feat, and if Vincenzo Italiano's current crop are to do so, they will surely need to match their visitors' potency in the final third - however, they have played more than 200 minutes since scoring their last goal.
Italiano has built his burgeoning reputation on a preference for attacking football, but back-to-back shut-outs against Empoli and Twente also builds on an increasingly impressive defensive record throughout 2022.
Having also drawn 0-0 away to Tuscan rivals Empoli last week - despite having a one-man advantage for the final half-hour - and then in Enschede, as they repeated the same scoreline, Fiorentina return to the Franchi on Sunday. There, they have kept seven clean sheets from 11 league fixtures this year - only Milan can match that tally in Serie A.
With their Europa Conference League tie against Twente ending in a 2-1 aggregate victory, over the coming weeks the Viola are set to tackle the group stages, which will pit them against Istanbul Basaksehir, Hearts and Latvian minnows RFS.
First, though, they return to domestic duties, as they aim to go unbeaten in their first three league games of the season for the first time since 2013.
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Team News
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While Vincenzo Italiano is expected to make several changes to his side following Fiorentina's midweek trip to the Netherlands, Riccardo Sottil will hope to retain his place in the front three.
Given a growing squad, Italiano can also select from Nicolas Gonzalez, Jonathan Ikone, Christian Kouame and Riccardo Saponara to support Luka Jovic - the latter should replace Arthur Cabral as the hosts' central striker.
Despite his dismissal in Europe, Igor could still feature in the back four, while only midfield pair Gaetano Castrovilli and Szymon Zurkowski are confirmed absentees.
Meanwhile, Napoli are two options down in their engine room, too, as Diego Demme recently suffered a broken foot and Fabian Ruiz continues to train separately as he seeks to leave the club.
Like their hosts' the Azzurri now have an abundance of attacking options from which to choose, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is almost certain to start after making a significant impact so far. With a goal on Sunday, the winger would become only the first Napoli player to score in his first three top-flight matches for the club since Jose Callejon.
Likely to start among the substitutes, Giovanni Simeone previously played 74 times and scored 20 goals for Fiorentina in Serie A; fellow new boys Tanguy Ndombele and Giacomo Raspadori are also poised to make their debuts from the bench.
Fiorentina possible starting lineup:
Gollini; Dodo, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Bonaventura, Amrabat, Mandragora; Gonzalez, Jovic, Sottil
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim, Rrahmani, Rui; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia
We say: Fiorentina 2-2 Napoli
Now stepping up in class after a straightforward start to the fixture list, Napoli will find it tougher to maintain their ferocious scoring rate, but such are Spalletti's options they should still find the net more than once.
Fiorentina can fight fire with fire, though, and an entertaining affair should be in prospect to conclude Serie A's third round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
