Just 72 hours after Napoli and Lazio went at it in the Coppa Italia, the pair will renew acquaintances in Serie A on Sunday.
Lazio came out on top last time out, winning 3-1 at the Stadio Olimpico. Napoli will argue they in effect fielded a reserve team for the cup contest, but Lazio made changes to their XI too. They were worthy winners on the night.
Having said that, there is no doubt that Napoli are prioritising Serie A. That is what Antonio Conte tends to do, particularly in his debut campaign with a club. He has won five league titles in his managerial career, but only one domestic cup competition (excluding the Supercoppa Italiana).
Napoli are going strong in the league. After 14 rounds of fixtures, they are looking down at the rest of the division from the summit of the standings.
It could not be much closer at the top end of the table, however. Juventus down in sixth are only six points shy of Napoli, whose lead over second-placed Atalanta stands at just one point.
Lazio in fifth are also in the mix. They would move within a point of Napoli with a win at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday night.
One of Conte’s skills as a manager is his ability to get his ideas across quickly to a new group of players. The Italian seldom needs a couple of years to build a team in his image. His Juventus, Chelsea and Inter sides were all competitive from the get-go.
Conte has repeated the trick in Naples. A 3-0 defeat by Hellas Verona on the opening weekend represented the worst possible start to his tenure, but Napoli have won 10 and lost just one of their 13 games since then.
Unlike many of the teams around them in the table, Napoli do not have European football to deal with this term. Now that they are out of the Coppa Italia, Conte’s team are free to focus solely on Serie A.
That is worrying news for the likes of Inter, Juventus, Lazio and Atalanta, all of whom are having to balance domestic and continental commitments.
For the most part, Napoli have made their home ground a fortress this season.
They were well beaten by Atalanta a month ago, going down 3-0 on their own soil, but Napoli have won six out of seven at the Maradona. Only Lazio have amassed more points in front of their own fans.
Talking of Lazio, they have been much less effective on the road. Of the 28 points they have collected overall, only nine have come at opposition stadiums. They are top of the home table but seventh in the away one.
