The battle between Napoli and AC Milan on Monday night will contain various individual duels, each one of which could be decisive.
This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport has picked out three of the areas where the game might well be won or lost for Napoli or Milan. It is a huge clash in the scheme of the season, with second place and the title of being Inter’s main challengers up for grabs.
The engine room
The clash between Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Adrien Rabiot truly looks like one of the most decisive in the match, also given the importance the two players have for both coaches. Conte has transformed Anguissa into a player who is now effective in the opposition box.
Rabiot, on the other hand, has long been a loyal man to Allegri, who even at Juventus had helped transform the Frenchman from a promising talent into a dominating midfielder.
Under Conte, Anguissa doubled his goalscoring record at Napoli: in his first three seasons with the Azzurri, he scored five times in all competitions. In his two years with Antonio, he’s already scored 10. Tthe Cameroonian has just returned from a four-month lay-off that saw him miss AFCON.
Anguissa has been one of the leaders of the Azzurri for years, a key force in their victory over the two Scudetti. Having arrived in Spalletti’s first year, he immediately became a key player for Napoli, and when Antonio arrived in Campania, he made the Cameroonian’s permanence a top priority.
On the other hand, Rabiot is the symbol of Milan’s resurgence, which has returned to the top spots from eighth place last year. Based on the points average of just the games in which the Frenchman was present, the Rossoneri would actually be first, ahead of Inter, if Adrien had been there every game.
Luckily for his mentor Allegri, Rabiot will be available in Naples, hoping to break a curse that has plagued him since his first year in Italy with Juventus: getting points at the Maradona. So far, he’s played four games at the Maradona and has lost all of them.
The rematch
One to keep flying, the other to get personal revenge. On one side, Rasmus Hojlund, Napoli’s star player of the season. On the other, Koni De Winter, Milan’s revelation, overwhelmed by the Danish forward in the last match between the two teams.
It was the Supercoppa semi-final, in Riyadh. A magical night for Rasmus, an endless nightmare for Koni. Hojlund was the star, providing the assist for Neres’s opener and scoring the goal that sealed the win. On both occasions, it was De Winter who paid the price.
The Napoli striker’s power and pace drove the Milan player into overdrive, unable to find any counter-measures to Hojlund’s ability to lean on him with his back to him and then spin him to run into the space in behind.
Hojlund is enjoying his best scoring season ever. With eight games to go, he has already equalled his career-high for league goals (10) and is two goals shy of the all-time record in a single season in all competitions.
In his first year with Manchester United, he finished with 16 goals across the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. He is now on 14, thanks to three strikes in the Champions League and the goal in the Supercoppa. In short, the double objective is very close and Rasmus wants to try to update his score tomorrow.
De Winter, however, is not the same player he faced in Riyadh. Indeed, since that evening the Belgian has changed pace, has blossomed and has earned himself a place in the national team and a very likely call-up to the next World Cup.
On the flanks
The important thing is to run. Whether on the right or left, as a full-back, winger or wing-back. Leonardo Spinazzola and Alexis Saelemaekers share versatility. Over the years, at Napoli and Milan, they have frequently changed positions and lanes, without compromising their performance.
Tomorrow evening, they will face off in a duel that promises to be exciting. On paper, the Belgian has a more pronounced attacking vocation, while the Italian is more inclined to defend. In reality, Spinazzola – having had a personal record year – has one more goal than Saelemaekers in this Serie A: 3 to 2.
One of Saelemaekers two goals, however, came in the first league game against Napoli, when ‘Spina’ was sidelined with a minor muscle problem. The Italian’s ‘revenge’ came in December in the Supercoppa.
Both players started and were substituted in the second half, but with Spinazzola providing the assist for Hojlund’s second goal. They won’t be the leaders of the two teams, neither from a technical nor a professional standpoint, but they are vital.
Saelemaekers is recovering after struggling for a while with the fatigue of a decidedly positive, yet also very demanding, first half of the season. The Napoli man has been more consistent, although in the last match before the break, Conte preferred Gutierrez on the left, with Politano on the right.
Just have to avoid defeat at all cost.