Serie A Matchday 36: In-form Inter take on champions Napoli

Inter Milan will hope to do the double over champions Napoli when the pair meet at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium this weekend. 

Elsewhere, Juventus know they cannot afford to slip up at Empoli in case their 15-point deduction stands, while Lazio must arrest their decline against Udinese on Sunday. 

AC Milan also need a victory over relegated Sampdoria to boost their own Champions League qualification hopes — they go into this gameweek four points off fourth place. 

Atalanta’s clash with Verona, meanwhile, has implications for both La Dea’s European push and the relegation battle.

Game of the weekend: Napoli vs Inter Milan (Sunday, 5pm)

This titanic clash sees Serie A champions Napoli host Champions League finalists Inter Milan with a score to settle, after losing the reverse fixture 1-0.

In fact, should the Nerazzurri triumph for a second time this season against the Partenopei, they will become just the third team to do the double over the champions in the last 40 years — alongside Torino (1994-95) and Sampdoria (2012-13) against Juventus.

Both these sides are exceptional in front of goal. Luciano Spalletti's outfit have scored the most set-piece goals in the division (25), while Simone Inzaghi's men have netted the most times from open play (49).

Victor Osimhen (23) and Lautaro Martinez (20) are the leading Capocannoniere candidates going into this gameweek. However, the former has faced Inter more times than any other Serie A team without scoring (four), while the latter has four league goals against the Partenopei.

Empoli vs Juventus (Monday, 7.45pm)

Juventus' Europa League semi-final exit at the hands of Sevilla has put them in a precarious position — should their 15-point deduction be reapplied, their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next term would be dashed. In fact, European qualification of any kind would not be assured.

But Juve's next opponents, Empoli, have a poor record in this fixture, managing just one win in their last 19 Serie A meetings with the Bianconeri (two draws, 16 defeats).

Furthermore, under Max Allegri, the Old Lady have claimed victory in all five of their away league games against Empoli.

Adrien Rabiot has enjoyed a productive campaign in front of goal and will be confident of adding to his tally against Monday's opponents, having previously registered three Serie A goal involvements against them (two goals, one assist).

Udinese vs Lazio (Sunday, 7.45pm)

Maurizio Sarri will be keen to stop Lazio's slide as soon as possible, to prevent them from slipping out of the Champions League qualification places.

The Biancocelesti boast a strong record against their next opponents, Udinese, losing just one of their last 16 league meetings (10 wins, five draws) and going unbeaten in their previous nine away clashes in the competition (six wins, three draws).

Furthermore, Udinese have failed to score in 11 of their last 16 league matches against Lazio.

Ciro Immobile will hope to hit a personal milestone in this fixture — he has been directly involved in 199 Serie A goals for Lazio (161 goals, 38 assists). Only two other players have managed 200 goal involvements for a single team in the competition since 2004-05 (Antonio Di Natale with Udinese and Francesco Totti with Roma).

AC Milan vs Sampdoria (Saturday, 7.45pm)

Following their Champions League semi-final exit at the hands of rivals Inter, AC Milan's primary focus will be climbing into the top four — though they are currently four points off the pace.

But their next opponents are relegated Sampdoria, who sit bottom of the standings and have lost each of their last three league meetings with the Rossoneri.

The two sides share an unfortunate trait in that they are equally vulnerable to wide deliveries. They have both conceded 13 goals from crosses this term, which is a joint-league high.

Rafael Leao's return from injury is a real boost for Milan — the club have won 49% of their games in all competitions with him on the pitch (22/45), scoring an average of 1.5 times per match. Without him, they have lost four of four and scored just 0.5 goals per match on average.

Atalanta vs Verona (Saturday, 5pm)

Atalanta go into this gameweek in seventh, just one point behind sixth-placed Roma and three behind fifth-placed AC Milan in the European qualification spots.

Verona, meanwhile, are walking the finest of lines between safety and survival.

Only two Serie A sides have scored more penalties than La Dea's six, though Marco Zaffaroni's men have not conceded from the spot this term — the only team yet to do so.

Atalanta centre forward Duvan Zapata has scored just twice in Serie A this season but one more strike would see him become the club's joint-top goalscorer in the competition with 69 (level with Cristiano Doni).

The weekend's other games

Sassuolo vs Monza (Friday, 7.45pm) 

Cremonese vs Bologna (Saturday, 2pm) 

Lecce vs Spezia (Sunday, 11.30am) 

Torino vs Fiorentina (Sunday, 2pm) 

Roma vs Salernitana (Monday, 5.30pm)

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