Napoli – Udinese

Napoli takes on Udinese in the last match of the Coppa Italia Round 16.

Napoli is moving pretty well this year, beating Lazio and Cesena on the road, losing only with Juventus (after taking the Supercup from Juve in the last match of 2014). The performance against Lazio in the weekend was very impressive defensively, something with which Napoli usually struggles – they took the lead early, than managed to keep Lazio scoreless at Olimpico for the rest of the game. However, the league is pretty much gone for Napoli, so their only chance for additional silverware this season is Coppa Italia.

Udinese is in a real bad spot right now, failing to win any of the last 5 matches and overall winning just once of the last 12 games in all competitions. The most surprising thing is that Udinese, usually a good defensive team, conceded at least a goal in all of those 12 matches, so they just can’t defend anybody right now. Udine is on the back of a 2-2 home draw with Cagliari over the weekend.

Bet on Napoli vs. Udinese with the highest asian handicap odds at Pinnacle Sports.

Team news: Zuniga, Michu and Ghoulam will definitely not be in Napoli’s lineup today and it remains to be seen if Benitez chooses to rest other players, but that`s highly unlikely – the Cup is an important objective for the hosts. Udinese’s lineup will not see Pinzi, Guilherme, Badu and Muriel. Di Natale might be rested, which would be a huge blow for the visitors.

Napoli has been really consistent lately on both ends of the pitch and that gives me confidence that an out of form side like Udinese will not trouble them today at San Paolo. Udine has been conceding goals after goals recently so Napoli looks good value to bang in at least two. On the other hand, Napoli could well keep a clean sheet if they repeat the pragmatic effort they showed in Rome over the weekend.

My tip here is Napoli to win with a 1,25 goal asian handicap – they are a better team in better form, play at home and have the firepower to cover the handicap. Prediction: Napoli – Udinese 2-0.

Pick: Napoli (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.83 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.64
Event date: 22 January