Lazio are the in-form team in Serie A at the moment, now having won their last 10 straight games after downing Napoli 1-0 in this latest edition of Serie A action. Simone Inzaghi now finds himself leading a title challenge that not many would have seen coming at the start of the season.
Napoli are trending in the opposite direction, however, after replacing Carlo Ancelotti with Gennaro Gattusso, Napoli have only won three points out of a possible 12, losing three out of four along the way. This latest result sees Napoli slip to 10th in the table as they are rapidly falling out of contention for any of next years European qualification places.
Our tactical analysis will look at the tactics on display in this game and detail where the game was won and lost for the respective sides. This analysis will aim to provide a diagnosis for Napolis issues as well as explain just how Lazios tactics have led them to their current, lofty position.
Lineups
Inzaghi kept his side true to the 3-5-2 formation that has served them so well over the course of the season with the only real change involving Joaquin Correa, who was absent from the matchday squad, so his place was taken by the striker, Felipe Caicedo.
Gattusos introduction in Naples has featured an abandonment of Ancelottis preferred 4-4-2 in favour of the 4-3-3 formation that served the Blues so well under Maurizio Sarri. Amid all the transfer speculation surrounding the player, Dries Mertens missed this game so the duty to lead the line fell on the shoulders of Arkadiusz Milik who was flanked by the usual suspects of Lorenzo Insigne and José Callejón. There was an unorthodox role in this game for Giovanni Di Lorenzo who started at centre-back in the absence of Kalidou Koulibaly despite the fact that Sebastiano Luperto and Lorenzo Tonelli were available for this game.
Lazios defensive block
Napoli certainly dominated the possession statistic in this game, ending the match having enjoyed 64% possession but their play on the ball was significantly stifled by how Lazios defensive block marshalled their progression up the pitch.
Firstly, Lazios defensive block wasnt designed to press Napoli high up the pitch and instead adopted a medium block approach, with the whole team compact in a shape which engaged the opponent once they reached the middle third of the pitch. This gave Lazio all the benefits of sitting deep enough so as to protect their side against any long balls over the top as well as the ability to disrupt Napolis build-up play further away from their own half.
Specifically, however, in order to compensate for their narrow forma
