Serie A: Top Two Set for Title Tilt, Lock Horns Again

Napoli vs Inter Milan

It may be early on in the 2025-26 Serie A campaign; it may be the most wide open of all the major leagues in Europe and certainly neither club will be ruled out of the title race however the game ends up on Saturday teatime.

Yet there’s no question the first meeting of last season’s top two in Italy doesn’t just have the capacity to deliver Serie A 2025 highlights but could have a huge impact on who lifts the Scudetto next May.

Talking Points

The top two of Italian football had very contrasting results in Europe in midweek.

Inter were 4-0 winners over Union Saint-Gilloise as Denzel Dumfries, Lautaro Martinez, a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty and a first Francesco Pio Esposito goal in the Champions League secured the result and maintained their 100 per cent record in the tournament this season.

They are, according to boss Cristian Chivu, starting to recover from the closing weeks of last term when they were ‘shaken up’ by missing out on both the Italian title and Champions League.

The Romanian this week admitted that they needed to be understood and reassured after an end to the campaign which would haunt lesser teams.

There are glimpses they are bouncing back too as the Nerazzurri have won seven games in a row in all competitions, despite missing the injured Marcus Thuram.

Chivu gave his players the day off on Wednesday ahead of the trip to the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for which they will be still without striker Marcus Thuram with the French star out for a further two games.

On the same night as Inter were winning in Belgium, Napoli, who pipped them to the title last term, were crushed 6-2 by PSV Eindhoven in the same competition.

That would have done little to improve their mood before the big game of the weekend.

Coming off the back of a surprise league defeat at Torino which cost them the league leadership, Napoli travelled to Holland in the midst of a mini injury crisis with Rasmus Hojlund, Stanislav Lobotka, Amir Rrahmani and Romelu Lukaku out of action.

Scott McTominay returned after needing six stitches in an ankle and scored both their goals but he was the one bright spark.

Until Tuesday, the last time the Partenopei had leaked six goals in any tournament was their 6-3 Serie A defeat to Sampdoria in December 1997.

Afterwards, manager Antonio Conte described his charges as a ‘team without heart’ and they will surely want to prove him wrong before their passionate fans.

Alongside McTominay, the other key figure for the champions could be Kevin de Bruyne who has three goals in his first seven games in Italy.

It promises to be passionate and possibly feisty as two title rivals slug it out once more.

History

Serie A: Inter Milan will be coming into this match on the back of a 4-0 Champions League win — Inter Milan players during their match against Fluminense

The last three confrontations between these clubs have all ended in a 1-1 draw, including the corresponding fixture last season.

In November in Milan, McTominay fired Napoli in front before Calhanoglu equalised two minutes ahead of the break.

When they met in Naples in March, Bournemouth loanee Philip Billing proved the unlikely hero with an 87th minute equaliser to cancel out Federico Dimarco’s free-kick.

Inter haven’t lost to Napoli in their last five meetings. In fact, Napoli have only won one of their last 12 meetings and that was in this fixture in their 2022-23 title-winning campaign – a 3-1 success, secured by goals from Frank Anguissa, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Gianluca Gaetano – two of which arrived in the last five minutes.

Under the management of Luciano Spalletti, they had secured the title by the time of this victory. Lukaku, now of Napoli, replied for Inter.

In January last year, Inter tasted victory in the final of the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia when Martinez scored a last-gasp winner to break Napoli hearts and ensure I Nerazzurri lifted the silverware.

In all competitions, overall, Napoli have 51 wins in their head-to-heads, Inter 75 and there have been 46 draws.