Napoli vs Monza prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2022-08-20 16:30.
Departures of high-profile players like Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens left Napoli fans worried coming into this Serie A (SA) season, however coach Luciano Spalletti eased some of those fears by masterminding a strong start for his team. Napoli secured a 5-2 win in Verona, scoring 5+ goals in a seasonal SA opener for the first time ever and starting their league season with a win for a sixth consecutive year.
Last term, Napoli followed that opening day victory with another seven SA wins, failing to win only on matchday nine, whilst keeping a clean sheet in three of their first four home league matches. That should give the Partenopei plenty of confidence, as should the fact the last time they failed to win their opening home SA fixture was back in 2015 – although they still went on to finish an impressive second that season.
Things didn’t go to plan for Monza who suffered defeat in their first-ever SA encounter, going down 2-1 at home to Torino. However with several summer acquisitions being left out, there is hope for the newcomers that things can improve quickly. Manager Giovanni Stroppa should feel confident he’ll be given time to find his feet at this level too, with club owner Silvio Berlusconi acknowledging it was “only the first match” of the season, with a long way still to go.
There are no guarantees those improvements will come in their opening away match though, especially as Monza were only the 12th best Serie B team on their travels last season (W6, D6, L7). Nevertheless, seven victories across their last ten away competitive outings (L3) suggests it’s an area in which they’re starting to improve.
Players to watch: After registering a goal and an assist on his SA debut, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia became only the third Georgian player to find the net in Italy’s top division. The scorer of Monza’s first ever SA goal, Dany Mota, has netted three of his last four strikes after the break.
Hot stat: No SA team scored more than Napoli’s 11 home goals in the opening 20 minutes last term.