Supercoppa Italiana Semifinal: Napoli vs Fiorentina Preview
Serie A Champions vs. Coppa Italia Finalists
Showdown in Saudi Arabia
In the first-ever four-team edition of the Supercoppa Italiana, Napoli take on Fiorentina in the first Semifinal on Thursday. The defending champions will meet the Coppa Italia finalists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Over the weekend, both sides played Serie A matches and Napoli broke a four-game winless run with a 2-1 victory over Salernitana. Meanwhile, Fiorentina drew 2-2 vs. Udinese in Florence. In our Napoli vs Fiorentina preview, we’ll run through the latest odds and team news from Thursday’s match.
Napoli vs Fiorentina
Date, time:
Location: Al-Awaal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Streaming: Live Sports Stream
Head-to-Head
Napoli and Fiorentina last met in October 2023 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Josip Brekalo, Giacomo Bonaventura and Nicolas Gonzalez got on the scoresheet as the Viola got a 3-1 road win. Napoli vs Fiorentina previews note that Fiorentina have lost just two of their last six matches vs. Napoli, in all competitions. This is their first-ever meeting in the Supercoppa Italiana but Fiorentina did knock Napoli out in the Coppa Italia round of 16 in 2022.
Napoli Missing Leading Scorer
Following an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Torino, Napoli regrouped for Saturday’s Campania Derby vs. Salernitana. The Partenopei fell behind in the first half as Antonio Candreva sent a wonderstrike past Napoli keeper Pierluigi Gollini. Napoli won a late penalty in the second half, which Matteo Politano stepped up and converted. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia caused a lot of problems for Salernitana’s defense but it didn’t necessarily translate to a goal.
With the match level deep into stoppage time, Amir Rrahmani finished off a scramble in the box to give Napoli a much-needed 2-1 win. It was the Partenopei’s second match without leading scorer Victor Osimhen, who’s away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria. Midfielder Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is also at the tournament with Cameroon. Meanwhile, starting goalkeeper Alex Meret is out until February with an injury. Plus, defenders Natan and Mathias Olivera remain out injured.
There’s no doubt that Napoli have underperformed this season. They’re currently in just seventh place in the Serie A standings and have already gone through a midseason coaching change. The Serie A stats show they’ve averaged just 1.5 goals per game this season compared to over two goals per game in their Scudetto-winning campaign. With Osimhen out for at least the next few weeks, other players are going to have to step up.
Fiorentina: Defensively Solid
Last Tuesday, Fiorentina advanced to the Coppa Italia Semifinal for a third straight season. The Viola defeated Bologna in penalties, 5-4, after a scoreless draw through 120 grueling minutes. On Sunday, Fiorentina were -150 soccer betting favorites for their match vs. Udinese in Serie A. However, the game finished 2-2 as Fiorentina had to come back from a goal down on two occasions.
Lucas Beltran and M’Bala Nzola were on the scoresheet for the Viola as they remained in fourth place in Serie A. Joint-leading Fiorentina scorer Nicolas Gonzalez missed the match and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play on Thursday. Ivorian forward Christian Kouame is also away at AFCON as Beltran should continue to receive the bulk of the minutes up top.
Fiorentina have been quite defensively sound this season. Before Sunday’s match, the last time they conceded two goals in Serie A was back in October. Lucas Martinez recently returned from an injury, while Nikola Milenkovic should slot back into the starting lineup on Thursday alongside him. In their last six matches, in all competitions, Fiorentina have conceded just three goals.
Match Analysis & Odds
This projects as a relatively even match. Napoli vs Fiorentina previews note that the Viola are lacking in individual brilliance, especially with Gonzalez injured. Although, Giacomo Bonaventura has had a late-career renaissance this season. Meanwhile, Napoli do have a game changer, in Kvaratskhelia.
With Osimhen out, one of Giacomo Raspadori or Giovanni Simeone should start up top for the Partenopei. Napoli enter Thursday’s match as +140 favorites, while Fiorentina are relatively slight +190 underdogs.Bettors can take a draw at +230 odds but there’s no extra time in this season’s edition of the Supercoppa Italiana. In the event of a tie, the teams will contest a penalty shootout with a spot in next Monday’s final on the line.
For those wanting to bet on the goal line, Napoli pk, -0.5 displays +110 odds, while Fiorentina pk, +0.5 comes in at -125. Napoli matches have been wildly unpredictable this season but under 2.5 goals are priced at -120 odds.
