Gattuso's unbeaten Lazio arrive at the Maradona top

Gattuso's unbeaten Lazio arrive at the Maradona top of Serie A

Nine wins and a draw from ten games, with 24 goals scored. Napoli come into the game after a 4-1 defeat in Porto and a loss to Juventus, with half the defence injured.

by Gennaro SanninoFriday 6 November, 10:25 CET· 1 hour ago

Stadio Olimpico Lazio Rome-Venezia 24 — Foto: Zakarie Faibis · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lazio come to Naples top of the table. They have 28 points from 10 games, have scored 24 and conceded 8, and have not lost yet: nine wins and a draw.

Ten games are not enough to judge a side. But the numbers show a team that has found its rhythm and is keeping it. Lazio are doing that while things off the pitch are far from calm. In July, more than 500 people filled the Teatro Manzoni for the supporters' general assembly. They discussed the plan for the Flaminio stadium and how to keep up the protest against the club's president, Claudio Lotito. So far that tension has not shown on the pitch.

Gattuso and his 4-3-3

Gennaro Gattuso is the coach, and he has built a very strong start to the season. Against Monza in their last game, Lazio played 4-3-3: Mandas in goal; Floriani, Doekhi, Provstgaard and Tavares in defence; Frattesi, Belahyane and Taylor in midfield; Isaksen, Noslin and Zaccagni up front. They won 3-1.

Gattuso used all five substitutions, bringing on Leite, Sutalo, Pedraza, Dele-Bashiru and Pinamonti. Lazzari and Cataldi stayed on the bench. This is a squad that can change players without changing the team, and the bench has delivered goals.

The threats have names. Tavares scored in the 3rd minute against Monza, coming forward from the back four. A full-back who gets into the box has to be tracked for 90 minutes. Isaksen got the second in the 23rd minute, starting from the flank of the front three.

Then there is Pinamonti. He came on in the 75th minute and settled the game 13 minutes later. For a defence tiring late on, he is the most dangerous type of player. Against a patched-up back line like Napoli's, a side that scores through its full-backs, its wingers and its substitutes can find space anywhere.

Where Lazio can be hurt

Lazio's last two wins have something in common: both came against opponents reduced to ten men. At Sassuolo it finished 6-2. But Thorstvedt had equalised in the 7th minute before being sent off for a serious foul in the 31st, and Sebastiano Esposito had pulled one back in the 43rd. Lazio then made the extra man count.

Against Monza, Lucchesi was sent off in the 35th minute, and Goglichidze still scored in the first minute of the second half. Lazio have conceded at least once in each of their last two away and home games. Doekhi and Provstgaard, the two centre-backs, were both booked and substituted in the second half.

Napoli come into this game in the worst possible shape. They lost 4-1 in Porto in the Champions League and 2-0 to Juventus in the league, and sit 14 points behind Lazio. The injury list hits the defence hardest: Buongiorno, Badiashile, Di Lorenzo, Olivera, Spinazzola, Favasuli and Marianucci are all out, along with Lobotka, De Bruyne, Neres and Alisson Santos.

Against the team in the best form in the league, Massimiliano Allegri cannot afford another performance without character. Kick-off is on Sunday 8 November at 12:30 CET (11:30 UK, 06:30 ET) at the Maradona. Nobody is asking for a miracle. What supporters want is a team that plays for 90 minutes with its head and its legs.