In their final match before the New Year, Serie A leaders Napoli host Crystal Palace on Sunday in a friendly from Regnum Carya Golf and Spa Resort in Turkey.
Gli Azzurri come into this fixture having won four consecutive matches in all competitions, including 3-2 in a friendly versus Antalyaspor earlier this week, while the Eagles have failed to win that many contests, recently playing the reigning Turkish champions Trabzonspor to a 2-2 draw.
Match preview
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Since the 2022-23 domestic campaign began, Luciano Spalletti's men have been on a roll, becoming just the second team in Serie A history to win 13 of their first 15 league fixtures, dropping Udinese 3-2 in their final match before the season paused for the World Cup.
They have captured 11 consecutive league fixtures, the first time Napoli have accomplished that feat during the same Serie A campaign.
Despite having close to a month off from game action, I Partenopei looked sharp in the attacking third on Wednesday, scoring three times in just over an hour, having notched multiple goals in six of their last seven encounters in all competitions.
Napoli have enjoyed plenty of success against teams from the UK, defeating Rangers twice in their Champions League group stage this season, losing only one of their previous eight European fixtures against English or Scottish opponents.
Four of their last six goals scored have come in the opening half, going up 2-0 within a quarter of an hour in their friendly this week.
Despite conceding the opening goal on four occasions during this domestic campaign, Napoli have found a way back every time.
The Italians, along with Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain, are the only clubs this season who have not lost a single match in the big five European leagues.
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For the first time in their last four encounters in all competitions, Crystal Palace found the back of the net on Wednesday, fighting back from a goal down on two occasions, collecting a second draw this month.
Before the World Cup break, Patrick Vieira's men had won two of their previous three English Premier League affairs, although they failed to register a shot on target in a 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.
Since squandering a 2-0 lead to Manchester City and losing 4-2 in late August, their matches have been extremely tight, with 12 of their last 13 games in all competitions being decided by a goal or fewer.
They have never faced a team from Italy but are unbeaten in their previous five friendlies versus clubs outside of England, a streak which dates back to the 2020-21 campaign.
Vieira has seen his side start slowly in most of their outings over the past couple of months, scoring first in only one of their previous seven EPL fixtures.
Palace will fancy their chances to climb up the table before the end of the year with games against Fulham and Bournemouth, as the Eagles have dropped just one of their previous nine domestic encounters versus newly-promoted teams.
Team News
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Giacomo Raspadori notched a brace for Napoli in their victory against Antalyaspor this week, with the other strike coming courtesy of Matteo Politano.
Alex Meret started in goal in that match before being replaced by Davide Marfella in the latter stages, while Giovanni Simeone came on as a second-half substitute in place of Victor Osimhen, who leads Serie A with nine goals.
Goals from Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Phillipe Mateta enabled Palace to come away with a 2-2 draw versus Trabzonspor, despite Jack Butland conceding on the only two shots he faced.
Nathan Ferguson is unlikely to feature as he has some sore muscles, Chris Richards has a hamstring strain and James McArthur will not be available until early January because of a hip injury.
Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Kim, Ostigard, Olivera; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Simeone, Osimhen
Crystal Palace possible starting lineup:
Butland; Clyne, Tomkins, Guehi, Ward; Olise, Milivojevic, Doucoure; Ebiowei, Edouard, Zaha
We say: Napoli 2-0 Crystal Palace
The last six goals scored by Napoli have come from five different players, and although Osimhen has been the primary target in the final third, this is a balanced squad full of creativity and quality at every position.
Palace have Wilfried Zaha but not much else in terms of dependable scorers, so we anticipate they will sustain most of the pressure in this one and eventually succumb to the Italians.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
