Can Napoli hold back Juventus and Inter Milan in a thrilling Serie A title race?

Amazing as it may seem at this relatively early stage of the season, most of the top domestic leagues in Europe look to be wrapped up already. Manchester City are 11 points clear in the Premier League, Bayern Munich lead the Bundesliga by the same margin, Barcelona top La Liga by six points – not a lead the Catalan giants are likely to relinquish – and PSG have demolished Ligue 1. Barring a massive turn up for the books, it appears that the last serious title race in Europe is set to take place in Italy. There are still four teams in the running for the Serie A title this season: Napoli, Juventus, Roma and Inter Milan.

Considering that Roma are down in fourth and four points off the pace as things stand, they are the biggest outsiders for the title. The evidence of recent seasons suggests that the Giallorossi do not have the staying power to win the league, even if they have a tough spine which includes a rejuvenated Federico Fazio, the veteran Daniele De Rossi, all-rounder Radja Nainggolan and former Manchester City man Edin Dzeko. If we can discount them for the moment, it’s much more difficult to differentiate between the top three teams. Napoli, Juventus and Inter all have their strengths, while their weaknesses are relatively few and far between.

Napoli were the thinking man’s tip for domestic and European glory this season. Things haven’t turned out as expected in Europe where the Partenopei crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage, missing out on progression to the knockout rounds to Shakhtar Donetsk. Ever since Maurizio Sarri took over in 2015, the Neapolitans have been widely lauded for playing one of the most attractive brands of football on the continent. It has been enough to propel them to the top of Serie A despite their failure to meet expectations in Europe, though they currently lead Juventus by a single point.

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While they have become darlings of the press on account of their eye-catching, attacking football – inspired in no small part by the genius of Belgian forward Dries Mertens and Slovakian playmaker Marek Hamsik – it is actually Napoli’s defence which has sent them top of Serie A this term. While they had conceded 18 goals at the same stage last season (and 13 the season before that), they have shipped a meagre 11 goals in 17 league games this time around. Sarri has drilled a back four of Mario Rui, Kalidou Koulibaly, Raul Albiol and Elseid Hysaj into perfect shape, with Koulibaly coming in for particular praise for his dominant performances. Sarri’s take on 4-3-3 has made life easier for his defenders, with Jorginho breaking up play in front of them and Napoli’s attackers encouraged to adopt a vigorous pressing game.

The threat from Juventus

With the team clicking together brilliantly all through defence, attack and midfield, it’s little wonder that Napoli are top of the table having lost only once in the league all season. That loss was to Juventus, however, which has made things more difficult for the Neapolitans. After a wobble in early October in which they lost to Lazio and drew with Atalanta – this as Napoli were still in the midst of a record eight-match winning run – Massimiliano Allegri’s men have roared back into form recently. There is something inexorable about Juventus, something Terminator-esque. Champions for the last six years running, it is impossible to shake the feeling that Juve will somehow finish the season 10 points clear.

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To give themselves the best chance of overhauling upstart Napoli, Juventus will need to get Paulo Dybala firing again. Having started the campaign with ten goals in six games the Argentine attacker has gone off the boil, perhaps distracted by rumoured interest from Manchester United and Real Madrid. If he is an attacking talisman for Juve, they are nowhere near as reliant on him as Inter Milan are on Mauro Icardi. Dybala’s fellow Argentine has 17 goals in as many Serie A appearances this season. With a striker like that in the starting line-up, nobody can rule out third-placed Inter from stealing in to win their first Scudetto since the Jose Mourinho era.