Previous encounters
Four days after facing off in the Coppa Italia at the Stadio Olimpico, Napoli and Lazio meet again in Serie A – this time at the Stadio Maradona.
Antonio Conte's side – who started the weekend top of the table on 32 points – go into the game chasing their 11th league win of the campaign, while Lazio – sitting four points behind in joint fourth – will be seeking their 10th Serie A victory.
The Azzurri have had the better of previous encounters with the Biancocelesti, winning 54, drawing 42 and losing 40. However, Lazio are unbeaten in the last three match-ups (W2, D1) having lost four on the spin before then.
Lazio are the team that Napoli have beaten most often in Serie A and also the side they have scored the second-most goals against (192) – only against Bologna have the Azzurri notched more (197).
That said, there were no goals in the most recent encounter (0-0 at the Olimpico on 28 January) and Lazio have not kept back-to-back clean sheets against Napoli since 2009, something the Azzurri last managed in 2015/16.
If Conte's men prevent Marco Baroni's side from scoring on Sunday, it will be 10 clean sheets in 15 league outings this term – a result Napoli have achieved only once before, in 1970/71.
They are sure to have their work cut out though, as Lazio have won nine (and lost two) of their last 11 in Serie A, averaging 2.2 goals per game (20 scored) in that time.
One positive from Napoli's perspective is that all four of the Biancocelesti's league defeats this season have been on the road, including last Sunday's 3-1 reverse at the hands of Parma.
Tireless pressing, counter-attacks and crosses from out wide
One of Lazio's key traits under Baroni is the intensity of their pressing: only Bologna have a superior PPDA (Passes allowed Per Defensive Action) this season (9.4, versus Lazio's 11.1, the same as Roma).
Intrinsically linked to this pressing game is their counter-attacking play. Lazio have completed 14 counter-attacks this season (six teams have managed more), scoring three goals as a result – the same number as Juventus and Milan and fewer only than Parma and Fiorentina (four each).
Lazio also pose a big threat from wide areas and have racked up more crosses from open play (254) than any other team (although some have a game in hand), with 55 of them successful (a figure bettered only by Inter's 56).
That latter statistic is aided by Lazio's ability to get bodies into the box: they have recorded the fourth-most balls played in the opposition area in 2024/25 (360, behind Inter, Atalanta and Milan).
The Biancocelesti can also boast the second-highest number of shots (204, the same as Como), with only Atalanta managing more (220).
Watch out for Castellanos, Zaccagni, Dia, Noslin
Picking out a single 'danger man' for Lazio is no mean feat given that they have the joint-most different scorers this term (13, the same as Inter).
Valentin Castellanos is currently their top scorer in Serie A with six goals to his name. He has also had the most shots on target in the league: 21, level with Moise Kean.
However, Napoli will need to keep tabs on the likes of Mattia Zaccagni, Boulaye Dia and Tijjani Noslin too.
Zacchigni is the archetypical modern winger, blessed with speed, dribbling and finishing. Together with Riccardo Orsolini, he is one of just two Italians who have scored at least five goals in each of the last five seasons (five is his tally so far this year).
The Italy man is also the player who has also earned the most points for his team through goal contributions in the current campaign (nine points courtesy of five goals and two assists),
What's more, he has previously been directly involved in three Serie A goals against Napoli (two scored, one assisted), although none away from home yet.
One of Zaccagni's assists this season was for Boulaye Dia, who could return to the team against Napoli on Sunday evening. The Senegal winger already has a special memory of the Stadio Maradona – his only previous appearance there was with Salernitana in April 2023, when his strike 'ruined' the Azzurri's Scudetto party, which had to be celebrated a week later in Udine.
Dia already has four goals from 12 games this season – the same number he managed in the whole of 2023/24 (17 appearances).
Finally, we cannot not mention Tijjani Noslin, Napoli's slayer with a hat-trick in the Coppa Italia just a few days ago. The Dutch winger is the first foreign player to score three goals in the same match for Lazio since Keita Balde did the same against Palermo in Serie A on 23 April 2017.
Stats by Opta
