Football

Four things to watch during Serie A Matchday 26 as leaders Napoli face Champions League-chasing Atalanta - live on BT Sport!

Luciano Spalletti's men suffered a slight setback on Friday as they lost 1-0 at home to Lazio, while their upcoming opponents also endured a frustrating weekend, drawing 0-0 with Udinese.

Published: 11 March 2023, 4.32am | 6 min read

After Spezia stunned Inter on Friday night, Matchday 26 continues apace on Saturday as runaway leaders Napoli host Atalanta - who currently sit sixth - while later that day, in-form Bologna, a team with one eye on finishing in the European places, welcome third-placed Lazio to Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.

Roma host a resurgent Sassuolo on Sunday, with Milan's clash against Salernitana on Monday rounding off the matchday as the Rossoneri aim to recover from defeat to Fiorentina last time out in the league.

For all the key storylines, plus information on how to watch the weekend's EIGHT remaining matches, read on.

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Back-to-back top-six tests for Napoli

Napoli uncharacteristically misfired last Friday night, with only two of their 14 efforts against Lazio hitting the target.

However, the Partenopei's form this season has been so imperious that they are still 15 points clear at the Serie A summit after Inter's shock loss at Spezia.

Next up at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona are Atalanta, who have gone off the boil in recent weeks.

Gian Piero Gasperini's men suffered an unexpected 2-1 loss to Lecce on 19 February before failing to trouble Mike Maignan in a 2-0 defeat at Milan and drawing another blank in a goalless draw with Udinese.

In defence of the Bergamo outfit, they did have the majority of the possession and chances in their previous outing, but will have to make do for the next two matches without creative force Teun Koopmeiners, who went off late in the first half against Udinese with a thigh strain, joining Davide Zappacosta on the sidelines after the former Chelsea right-back picked up the same injury in the warm-up on Saturday.

The good news for Gasperini is that Mario Pasalic returned against the Friulians following three games out with an ankle problem, while Duvan Zapata could be in squad contention against the champions-elect.

However, teenage centre-back Giorgio Scalvini is unlikely to feature as he continues to recuperate after damaging ligaments in his right ankle.

Napoli's only bodies on the treatment table are Giacomo Raspadori and Hirving Lozano - the latter due to a muscle strain - while Mario Rui serves the second of his two-game suspension for the straight red he received at Empoli.

The reverse fixture between these sides saw Napoli from behind to win 2-1 at Gewiss Stadium, with all three goals coming in a frantic 16-minute first-half spell.

The visitors' equaliser on that day came from Victor Osimhen, who is comfortably the leading scorer in Italy's top flight this term and will bag his 20th of the campaign if he scores on Saturday evening.

Victor Osimhen had an unusually disappointing evening against Lazio - but he is one away from 20 league goals for the campaign

Can Lazio show they Bologn in top four?

Lazio are the only team in Serie A to have won their last three games, the latest of which was that huge triumph in Naples thanks to a thunderbolt from Matias Vecino.

Equally impressively, the Eagles have recorded clean sheets in those three matches and possess the league's second-stoutest defence behind Napoli.

However, Maurizio Sarri's men were undone by two moments of sloppiness in their own half against AZ Alkmaar on Tuesday, allowing the Dutch side to take a 2-1 aggregate lead back to the Netherlands with a Europa Conference League quarter-final spot up for grabs.

The only absentee Sarri will have to contend with for the trip to Bologna is that of top scorer Ciro Immobile, who suffered a thigh problem prior to the AZ clash and is expected to be back in contention to play against Roma next weekend.

Bologna went into last weekend's meeting with Torino having picked up 16 points from the previous 21 on offer to push themselves within six points of the top six, which made the 1-0 defeat to Ivan Juric's side all the more frustrating as top scorer Marko Arnautovic was left on the bench in favour of ex-Bayern Munich youngster Joshua Zirkzee, with the Austrian and manager Thiago Motta not seeing eye to eye at the moment.

Like Sarri, Motta now has virtually a clean bill of health within his squad as midfielder Nicolas Dominguez returns to the fold, with the former Inter midfielder slowly building a reputation as being one of the brightest young coaches in Europe.

Both Sarri and Motta will be hoping that this Saturday's match is less highly charged than the reverse fixture on the opening day of the campaign, which saw eight yellow cards and two reds dished out (one for each side).

Bologna's last two clashes with Lazio at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara have seen the Emilia-Romagna outfit score five without reply in total. Can that recent superiority continue?

Lazio have snuck into third place in Serie A after three wins on the bounce against Salernitana, Sampdoria and Napoli without conceding a goal

Jose hoping for Mour Roma positivity

It has largely been a good few days for Roma and Jose Mourinho.

After his red card in the humiliating 2-1 defeat at Cremonese, the Portuguese appealed the decision, allowing him to take to the dugout to inspire the Giallorossi to an invaluable win over Juventus thanks to Gianluca Mancini's scorcher, which lifted them into the top four at Milan's expense.

That victory was then backed by a 2-0 triumph over Real Sociedad on Thursday to put Roma in a commanding position ahead of the second leg of their Europa League last-16 tie next week.

However, Mourinho has now lost that appeal - meaning a two-match Serie A touchline ban effective immediately - and has a number of enforced selection decisions to make ahead of the meeting with Sassuolo.

Captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, Leeds loanee Diego Llorente and striker Andrea Belotti sustained head, hip and wrist injuries respectively against Real Sociedad, ruling the trio out for this weekend, while midfielder Bryan Cristante is suspended after picking up his fifth league booking of the season.

The most significant absence will be that of Pellegrini, although it gives Georginio Wijnaldum the chance to get some minutes under his belt following an injury-disrupted time in Italy up to this point.

The capital club enjoy their third match at the Stadio Olimpico in a week when they welcome the Neroverdi, who in recent weeks have started to show the type of form that has put them comfortably mid-table (or higher) in each of the last eight seasons.

Alessio Dionisi's men have won their last two games, beating Lecce by a solitary goal before Nedim Bajrami's thumping 92nd-minute winner saw off bottom side Cremonese on Monday.

That latest encounter underlined the importance of Armand Lauriente, who has been one of the team's most important players this term and netted a blistering free-kick to open the scoring before setting up Davide Frattesi's strike to make it 2-0 with a driving run and backheel.

To top things off, the Frenchman assisted Bajrami's effort, crossing for the Albania international to fire in first time on the bounce.

Along with Lauriente's form, Dionisi will be boosted on Sunday evening by the return of talisman Domenico Berardi from suspension.

The reverse fixture finished 1-1, with Andrea Pinamonti cancelling out Tammy Abraham's 80th-minute opener.

The Inter loanee hasn't scored competitively since that November meeting. Could the striker end his seven-match drought in the Eternal City?

Armand Lauriente has been one of Sassuolo's most important players since his arrival from Lorient in the summer

Milan aiming to replicate UCL outcome

During what has been a frustrating campaign, the resilience shown by Milan to keep Tottenham at arm's length and progress to the Champions League quarter-finals was a notable feather in Stefano Pioli's cap.

That commitment to the task was epitomised by Fikayo Tomori, who was named man of the match in north London.

The 25-year-old's display put bad memories of last weekend to bed when he conceded a penalty at Fiorentina which saw the Rossoneri fall behind before being caught of position in the build-up to Luka Jovic's header, a goal that ultimately settled the contest.

That defeat saw Pioli's side slip out of the top four, and although they have a five-point cushion to sixth-placed Atalanta, Milan know they need to string a run of wins together to shake off their Lombardy neighbours and worm their back into the Champions League qualification spots.

Salernitana are the visitors to San Siro on Monday night, and after losing 2-0 to Lazio in Paulo Sousa's first game in charge last month following a wretched start to 2023, the Campanians have since seen off Monza 3-0 before earning a point at Sampdoria following a goalless draw.

Given that they are seven points above 18th-placed Hellas Verona and the relegation zone, you would imagine that Sousa's men have just enough to survive.