Napoli vs. Inter: Three key battles to watch

MILAN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 10: Hakan Calhanoglu of FC Internazionale scores his team’s first goal, past Alex Meret of Napoli (not pictured) during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Napoli at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on November 10, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

One of the biggest games of the 2024-25 Serie A season is coming up on Saturday, as second-place Inter host the current league leaders, Inter, with just one point separating the two teams ahead of kick-off. 

This will be the last time that the two teams face each other before the end of the 2024-25 season. The only previous meeting between the two sides this campaign resulted in a 1-1 draw in San Siro in November. 

With the lead of the league table on the line on Saturday, here are three key battles to watch from Saturday’s headline fixture at the Maradona. 

Napoli vs. Inter: Three key battles to watch 

Lautaro vs. Buongiorno 

Rested for the Coppa Italia victory over Lazio on Tuesday, and having broken a four-game goalscoring drought against Genoa last time out, Lautaro Martinez is ready to lead the line against Napoli on Saturday. 

In a massive boost for the Nerazzurri, he could be joined by Marcus Thuram, who joined in with first-team training in full on Friday. 

Naturally, Inter’s biggest goalscoring threat comes from their starting centre-forwards, who, between them, have scored 23 of the 57 goals the team have scored in Serie A so far this season. 

They will provide a tough test for Napoli’s back line, the most prominent of whom is Italy international Alessandro Buongiorno, who could either start in the middle or on the left of the back three depending on whether Amir Rrahmani keeps his place in the team. 

Raspadori vs. Bastoni 

While Napoli have not been on brilliant form throughout the month of February – three draws and a loss from four matches – Raspadori is one of the few Partenopei players on decent form heading into the Inter clash. 

He has two goals from his last two outings against Como and Lazio, playing the full 90 minutes in both of those matches; the first time that has happened in Serie A all season. Before the Lazio game two weeks ago, Raspadori had not started in the league since the 2-1 win over Parma in the third game of the 2024-25 season. 

Expected to start alongside Romelu Lukaku in attack, Raspadori is currently the goal-scoring threat that Inter will have to keep a particularly close eye over. 

It would not be a surprise to see the central of Inter’s three defenders – likely Francesco Acerbi – go man-to-man with Lukaku, which leaves Alessandro Bastoni and Yann-Aurel Bisseck to keep an eye on Raspadori. 

Politano vs. Dimarco 

Pre-match reports suggest that Conte is set to stick with a 3-5-2 for Inter, rather than returning to a four-at-the-back system. If that is the case, then Matteo Politano is likely to start from right wing-back again, which sets up an interesting battle against Italy’s starting left wing-back Federico Dimarco. 

Dimarco has cemented himself as one of the most well-rounded wing-backs in Europe over the last few seasons, but is typically at his best in possession and in attacking situations.

With Politano being a winger by trade, his defensive work will be put to the test against the consistently threatening Nerazzurri wide-man. 

The same could also be said in the opposite direction: Dimarco will also have to keep an eye on his international colleague, as he will be Napoli’s creative outlet on the right flank.