Napoli are hosting Fiorentina at Stadio Maradona on Sunday as they try to minimize their position behind Serie A leaders.
The Partenopei extracted a crucial point at the end of their Scudetto clash yet they still strive to break their lengthy string of defeats.
Antonio Conte must be delighted by Napoli's fight to earn a draw against Inter Milan during the last Serie A match because the team displayed remarkable determination.
The team led by former Inter coach Antonio Conte declined to top rankings after an unfortunate transfer period thus found themselves trailing at the San Siro when Dimarco scored a fantastic free kick.
Ending their dominance of the last half at the brink of stoppage time, substitute Philip Billing scored his second attempt after Stanislav Lobotka started an explosive offensive run.
The league victory drought has reached five games for Napoli under the guidance of Maurizio Conte becoming his first defeat streak as a coach. The last Serie A victory for the team occurred in January against Juventus.
The team from Campania lost their last match in Como but alongside that defeat they drew their previous two games at the Maradona stadium which they had won nine times in eleven Serie A fixtures this season.
A repeat triumph with their 3-0 January win would allow Napoli to perform a double over Fiorentina for the first time since 2014.
The two teams have mirrored each other in results by winning alternatively across their six previous head-to-head league games at Naples stadium as Fiorentina achieved their 3-1 victory during their previous tournament stop eighteen months ago.
They go south this time in the midst of a concerning downturn, as Raffaele Palladino's team has fallen to seventh place in the Serie A rankings after earlier contending for a possible top-four finish.
The Florence team has lost four of their previous five games after their wild 3-2 Conference League loss to Panathinaikos on Thursday, which somewhat jeopardizes their chances of making it to the quarterfinals.
Palladino will be eager to avoid losing three consecutive away games in Serie A because his job has even been questioned, despite his strong start at Stadio Franchi and last week's 1-0 victory over Lecce.
Fiorentina has only won one of their previous eight away games across all competitions and has failed to maintain a clean sheet, so it could be difficult to halt Scudetto-hungry Napoli.
After a strong showing against Inter, Antonio Conte may select a similar squad on Sunday, with Billy Gilmour staying in midfield, since he is still without regular starts Frank Anguissa and David Neres.
Romelu Lukaku, who joined Giacomo Raspadori up front, is just one goal away from scoring ten goals in one of Europe's top five leagues for the twelfth time; only Robert Lewandowski has accomplished more since he first did it with West Bromwich Albion in 2012–13.
