Following another explosive display in Europe, Serie A leaders Napoli return to domestic duty on Sunday, as they host lowly Bologna at Stadio Maradona.

In their latest multi-goal victory of a spectacular start to the season, Luciano Spalletti's inspired side took Ajax apart again, and they also sat top of the table in Italy after the first nine rounds.

Match preview

Still unbeaten this season - though that is barely a footnote among their long litany of praiseworthy performances over the past two months - Napoli are now being spoken about as genuine Scudetto contenders, and perhaps even candidates to reach the Champions League's latter stages.

After crushing both Liverpool and Rangers, the Partenopei completed a comprehensive double over their remaining Group A rivals on Wednesday, when they raced into a two-goal lead within 20 minutes and went on to beat Ajax 4-2.

Having previously come from behind to hammer the same opponents 6-1 in Amsterdam, Napoli's place in the knockout stages of Europe's elite competition is now assured after recording their 10th win from 12 matches.

Taking on promoted Cremonese in Serie A last week, they doled out more destruction by scoring three times in the final 15 minutes to secure a 4-1 win that kept them top of the pile in the Italian top flight.

Only Milan - another of the Azzurri's victims this term - have posted more points since the beginning of 2022, and Napoli also boast the best attacking stats in the calendar year, with 61 goals scored at an average of 2.18 per game.

Summer signings Giacomo Raspadori, Giovanni Simeone and wing wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have all settled in seamlessly to Spalletti's well-oiled machine, and recent results suggests there will be little Bologna can do to stop them on Sunday.

Before making the journey south to Campania, Bologna have lost each of their last four league meetings with Napoli - failing to score on three occasions - so precedent stands against them, as well as their feeble form.

Though they at least picked up something from last week's 1-1 draw with winless Sampdoria, the Rossoblu lost points from a leading situation yet again: so far this season, they have effectively squandered 11 after going ahead.

The chief cause is their inability to keep the back door shut after the interval, as they have also conceded the joint-most goals in the second half, along with Inter and Verona.

Having switched coaches by removing the popular Sinisa Mihajlovic for Thiago Motta to step into the dugout, there has been little uplift since the former's sacking, and the last time Bologna registered fewer points at this stage of a season came some seven years ago - they sit just above the relegation zone as a result.

Curiously, Motta remains unbeaten in both games he has overseen in Naples as a Serie A manager: a draw with Genoa in 2019 and a 1-0 win as Spezia coach last December. Continuing such a sequence this weekend, though, will take all his accumulated know-how and surely a large slice of luck.

Team News

After suffering a thigh injury against Ajax in midweek, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is ruled out of Sunday's game, and the Cameroon international is set to be replaced by Tanguy Ndombele in Napoli's midfield trio.

Amir Rrahmani is a major doubt, so either Juan Jesus or Leo Ostigard will be called upon to line up alongside Kim Min-jae at the heart of the hosts' defence.

Last season's top scorer Victor Osimhen is available to feature again in Serie A, though - after a substitute appearance on Wednesday confirmed his comeback from injury - so he competes with Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Simeone for one place up front.

Whoever Luciano Spalletti selects as his central striker should be supported by Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has scored six Serie A goals since arriving at Stadio Maradona in the summer.

Meanwhile, Bologna talisman Marko Arnautovic may be sidelined by a back problem which has kept him out of training this week. Thiago Motta has stated that Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee will stand in, should the Rossoblu's leading scorer be forced out of the reckoning.

To stiffen their defensive resolve against free-scoring opponents, the visitors are likely to deploy Stefan Posch at right-back, while Musa Barrow comes back into contention in attack following his return from injury.

Napoli possible starting lineup:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Kim, Rui; Ndombele, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Raspadori, Kvaratskhelia

Bologna possible starting lineup:
Skorupski; Posch, Soumaro, Lucumi, Cambiaso; Medel, Dominguez; Orsolini, Soriano, Aebischer; Zirkzee

We say: Napoli 2-0 Bologna

Offering little attacking threat - particularly if Arnautovic is unable to start - Bologna should not stand in the way of Napoli extending their superb sequence of results this term. With an increasingly deep squad, the hosts can use a variety of personnel up front - all of whom should be too hot for their visitors to handle.

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