Napoli Serie A Analysis: 7th Place, 14 Points After 9 Games

Napoli are 7th in the Serie A with 14 points from 9 games (4W 2D 3L) and a goal difference of +6.

Season at a glance

They trail the leaders Inter Milan by 11 points, and are 6 points behind fourth place.

They are 11 points above bottom-placed Venezia.

Napoli's season marks: biggest wins 3-0 at home and 1-4 away; heaviest defeats 1-2 at home and 3-2 away; a best winning run of 1; a longest losing run of 2.

Against top-half opponents Napoli have 1W 1D 2L (1.0 points per game from 4 games); against the bottom half it is 3W 1D 1L (2.0 per game from 5).

Attack

Napoli have scored 17 goals (1.89 per game), the 7th-best attack in the Serie A. The league average is 1.58 per team per game, so they sit 20% above it. They failed to score in 1 of 9 games. They average 2.0 goals per home game and 1.8 per away game.

Defence

They have conceded 11 (1.22 per game), the 7th-best defence, with 3 clean sheets in 9 games. Clean sheets: 2 at home and 1 away. They concede 1.3 per home game and 1.2 per away game.

When the goals come

Napoli's 17 league goals are spread by minute band, with the most productive spell 16-30 (4 goals); 11 (65%) came after half-time and 4 after the 75th minute. they have conceded most between minutes 46-60 (3 of 11 goals), including 3 after the 75th minute.

Tactics and discipline

Napoli's most used formations: 4-3-3 (5 games), 4-2-3-1 (2 games), 3-4-2-1 (2 games).

Napoli have collected 7 yellow and 1 red cards and converted 1 of 2 penalties.

Home and away

Napoli have 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat at home (7 points from 4 games, 1.75 per game), scoring 2.0 and conceding 1.25 per game. They kept 2 clean sheets and failed to score in 0 of those 4.

Napoli have 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats away from home (7 points from 5 games, 1.4 per game), scoring 1.8 and conceding 1.2 per game. They kept 1 clean sheet and failed to score in 1 of those 5.

Form and streaks

Napoli's last 5 results in the Serie A, newest first (opponent position in brackets): 4-1 at Monza (16th, W); 3-3 vs AS Roma (3rd, D); 0-1 at Venezia (20th, L); 3-0 vs Frosinone (6th, W); 1-1 at Fiorentina (18th, D). That is 8 points from a possible 15, with 11 goals scored and 6 conceded.

Squad leaders

Napoli's league contributors: goals - K. De Bruyne 4, R. Højlund 3, M. Politano 2; assists - M. Politano 3, G. Di Lorenzo 2, N. Lang 1.

Highest average ratings among regulars (270+ minutes): K. De Bruyne 7.36, S. McTominay 7.13, M. Politano 7.10.

Workload and impact: most minutes - G. Di Lorenzo (800), Rafa Marín (711); most key passes - K. De Bruyne (20); most tackles and interceptions - Rafa Marín (34); goalkeeper A. Meret has made 16 saves; most yellow cards - Rafa Marín (2).

The schedule ahead

Next up: at Juventus (8th), vs Lazio (2nd), vs Torino (9th). The average league position of those opponents is 6.3, a demanding run.

Outlook

At 1.56 points per game, a full 38-game season would end near 59 points, and at 1.89 goals per game near 72 goals. That is a projection from the current rate, not a prediction.