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Napoli host Spezia in the Coppa Italia quarterfinal on Thursday night, as they look to bounce back from two straight losses in the last week.
Last week, Napoli were beaten 2-0 in the Supercoppa Italiana by Juventus. They followed that up with a shock 3-1 loss to Hellas Verona in Serie A over the weekend.
Hirving Lozano gave Gennaro Gattuso's side the lead in the first minute of that game, but they eventually collapsed and lost further ground at the top of Serie A. Napoli are currently sixth, with 34 points from 18 games.
However, they have the defence of their Coppa Italia title to look forward to. They made it to the quarterfinal with a 3-2 win over Empoli in the previous round, which was played a couple of weeks ago.
Spezia made this stage of the competition with a convincing 3-0 win over AS Roma in the previous round. After that, they also faced the Giallorossi in Serie A at the Stadio Olimpico, where they lost 4-3 in a superb game of football.
Even though they are only 15th in Serie A, with 18 points from 19 games, Spezia have taken a couple of big scalps so far. They will not be pushovers in this game.
Napoli vs Spezia Head-to-Head
Napoli have won three of the last four matches that they have played against Spezia.
That solitary win for Spezia came when the two sides met earlier this month in Serie A, ending in a shock 2-1 in Naples.
Napoli form guide: L-L-W-W-W
Spezia form guide: L-W-W-D-W
Napoli vs Spezia Team News
Napoli
Fabian Ruiz will not play this game, due to COVID-19. But other than him, Gattuso has a fully-fit squad to choose from. The Napoli manager is likely to pick a strong team for this encounter.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Fabian Ruiz
Spezia
Roberto Piccoli injured himself in the weekend's loss to Roma, while M'Bala Nzola has an ankle problem. Riccardo Saponara is also likely to miss the game with an injury.
Injured: Roberto Piccolo, M'Bala Nzola, Riccardo Saponara
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Napoli vs Spezia Predicted XI
Napoli Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Alex Meret; Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Kostas Manolas, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Tiemoue Bakayoko, Diego Demme; Hirving Lozano, Piotr Zielinski, Lorenzo Insigne; Dries Mertens
Spezia Predicted XI (4-3-3): Titas Krapikas; Luca Vignali, Martin Erlic, Kulian Chabot, Simone Bastoni; Tomasso Pobega, Matteo Ricci, Giulio Maggiore; Daniele Verde, Andrey Galabinov, Diego Farias
Napoli vs Spezia Prediction
Despite losing the last game they played against Spezia, Napoli go into this encounter as favorites due to the quality they possess.
With an almost full squad available to them, it is difficult to look past Napoli winning this game. However, we expect it to be a narrow victory.
Prediction: Napoli 2-1 Spezia
