Can Antonio Conte’s Napoli Really Win Serie A This Season? | OneFootball

Nobody gave Napoli much of a chance of winning Serie A before the season got underway. Data experts Opta deduced that Napoli had only a 0.4% chance of ending the season with the trophy in their hands, and put seven teams ahead of them in the probability list.

But football has shown, again, that some things just can’t be predicted. With nearly 70% of the season gone, Napoli are second in the Serie A table, just one point behind Inter, and are hoping that they can go the distance and make it two league titles in three years.

The question is: can they really do it? With Inter having just claimed top spot in the league, let’s take a look at some of the key factors that will determine whether they’re able to do it.

The Belief of 2022/23

Napoli were not expected to even challenge for the Serie A title this year, let alone win it. It’ll take a massive amount of belief to keep winning games and truly act like they’re worthy winners of the title.

Most other teams might suffer from “imposter syndrome,” and eventually collapse. But Napoli’s belief that they can win the league won’t be based on fantasy; it’ll be based on history. They won the title, also unexpectedly, just a couple of years ago, the first time they’d won the league since 1990. That their last title success is so fresh in the memory should help quash any nerves that appear during the tense title run-in.

Replacing Kvaratskhelia

If Napoli are to beat the odds and win the Scudetto, then they’ll need all of the best players to be in sparkling form. Alas, unfortunately for Antonio Conte, the team have just lost one of their best players to Paris Saint Germain. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s January move to the French champions was a gutting blow to Napoli’s chances.

The Georgian winger had firmly established himself as one of the Azzurri’s best players, an influential playmaker who anyone who’s read a live betting guide will be familiar with, thanks to his capacity to create a chance out of nothing and swing a game back in Napoli’s favor. If Conte’s team are to seize the opportunity and win the league, they’ll need to find a player to step up and function as Kvaratskhelia’s replacement.

Antonio Conte: Proven Winner

Winning the league is much more realistic when there’s a manager with a proven track record of success in charge. This is only Antonio Conte’s first season in charge of Napoli, but he’s already on his way to becoming a club legend. He’s already won Serie A titles with Juventus (3 times) and Inter, and also scooped up an English Premier League title with Chelsea back in 2017. He’s a manager who knows how to win titles — and if he can pull off this league victory with Napoli, he’ll surely go down as one of the greatest Italian managers of all time.

Inter: Ready to Pounce

Of course, while Napoli will be increasingly confident that they can go on to win Serie A, they’re not going to have things their own way. With Conte’s former club Inter now occupying the top position, many pundits and fans believe that the Scudetto will ultimately end up at the San Siro. For Napoli to pull off the unexpected, they’ll have to be virtually perfect — and hope that other teams can do them a favor by taking points off Inter along the way.