Napoli vs Lazio Serie A betting preview

Second-placed Napoli restart their Serie A campaign after the winter break with a tough match, they host fourth-placed Lazio at San Paolo Stadium on Sunday. The reverse fixture was a lively one, Napoli won it 2-1 as Arkadiusz Milik and Lorenzo Insigne scored after Ciro Immobile had put Lazio ahead. That was the fourth consecutive win for Napoli over Lazio, and the fifth in the last six direct matches. In fact, Lazio have not tasted victory against Napoli since 2015, when they managed to grab a 4-2 Serie A victory in Naples. Napoli have won just two of their last five home matches against Lazio in all competitions. Napoli ended 2018 with a laboured 3-2 home victory over Bologna and they returned to the pitch with a 2-0 victory over Sassuolo in the Italian Cup earlier this week. That result puts them through to the quarter-finals, where they will face AC Milan. As for the league situation, Napoli are in their usual second place, nine points behind defending champions and runaway leaders Juventus. Napoli have not lost any of their home matches in Serie A this season, they have recorded eight wins and two draws so far. The match against Lazio will surely be difficult because of the numerous absences for the home side, Kalidou Koulibaly, Allan and Lorenzo Insigne are all suspended and Marek Hamsik is injured. Lazio are fighting hard to stay in the Serie A top four and so far it seems they are capable of achieving their goal. They are on a four-match unbeaten streak in all competitions and have qualified for the Coppa Italia quarter-finals with a 4-1 victory over Novara this week. Their latest Serie A result was a 1-1 home draw against Torino on December 29, a result which cut their advantage over fifth-placed AC Milan to just one point. Moreover, local rivals AS Roma are just two points behind in sixth spot. Adam Marusic is suspended for the away side, but they don't have any injury concerns ahead of Sunday's match. Probable line-ups: Napoli: Meret - Malcuit, Albiol, Maksimovic, Ghoulam - Callejon, Ruiz, Zielinski, Verdi - Mertens, Milik Lazio: Strakosha - Felipe, Acerbi, Radu - Lulic, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva, Parolo, Lukaku - Alberto - Immobile My prediction: 1-1 draw, it will be tough for Napoli with so many important players missing. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Napoli win - 1.90 Draw - 3.60 Lazio win - 4.00