Chievo vs Napoli Predictions

Napoli’s Europa League hopes are in trouble following Thursday’s trip to London. The Partenopei lost 2-0 to Arsenal in the first leg of their quarter-final, which has left the Gunners in complete control of the tie. That comes with Napoli in poor form, as their season fades away. It marks a huge change from last summer when Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival was said to be as big to the club as Cristiano Ronaldo’s to Juventus. Now, the former Real Madrid manager is presiding over a pretty mundane finale to his big homecoming.

Chievo continue to stumble towards relegation, with their place in Serie B set to be confirmed this weekend. It’s not going to come as a surprise to anyone, with the club in dreadful form all season long. They were hit with a three-point penalty earlier this season, but that’s not been the problem. Abject performances have become the norm for the Gialloblu, who now have the joint-worst home record in Serie A. Will that continue on Sunday?

Napoli are coming into this one with a solid away record, but they’ve got issues in recent games. They’re coming off a 2-1 loss at Empoli and a 1-1 draw with Genoa in the league, while they were beaten in Europe in midweek. Their preparations for this one have been disturbed for the Europa League, which could cause them some issues. The big issue for Ancelotti’s side is that they have fallen 20 points off top spot, while they have no one challenging them in second. Their league campaign is all but over, leaving them conceding too many goals in Serie A.

Napoli have both scored and conceded in each of their last six Serie A matches (21 goals in total, 3.5 per game on average). We could be in for more goals in this one, with the visitors’ defence seemingly not on their game right now. With all focus going into Thursday’s Europa League second leg, there could be rotation. The only issue there is that Napoli’s strength in depth is up front, not at the back.

The incoming forwards should enjoy a meeting with a side who have shipped 64 goals this season. The visitors have lost five of their last six games, all of which have seen over 2.5 goals scored. With Napoli on a streak without a clean sheet and Chievo looking wide open, we see great value in backing over 2.5 goals in this clash.