Serie A 2021/22 Lazio vs Napoli preview: How can Sarri’s attacking plan succeed against the league’s most efficient defence – tactical analysis

Lazio are slowly moving away from the Serie A top four this season and their upcoming fixture against Napoli is their chance to learn from their mistakes and minimise the gap to Juventus. They have been struggling with inconsistency and defensive vulnerability which takes a toll on their performance and often throws their attacking efforts to waste.

Napoli, on the other side, are still dreaming of winning the league title for the first time in 32 years and ending Lorenzo Insigne’s successful 12-year Napoli career properly, as he has signed a pre-contract with Toronto FC in the MLS. Contrary to their opponents, they are currently the best defensive team in the league with only 18 goals conceded. Failing to step up against the top five teams like Inter, Juventus and Atalanta, though, might have been crucial for their title ambitions.

They meet at an important point of the 2021/22 season and both managers Maurizio Sarri and Luciano Spalletti will be determined to grab the three points and move up in the table. Napoli have a better balance between the lines, which could be important for the win, but Lazio’s attacking proficiency could have the final say in the game.

In this preview, we use tactical analysis to explain how both teams could expose each other and what might be the key to their success.

How can Lazio expose the most efficient defence?

While Napoli have been the most efficient team defensively since the start of the season, they still have some flaws that Lazio could take advantage of. Sarri’s side impress with their high efficiency in attack, especially having in mind the low frequency of their shots. The team’s possession-based approach is often the reason for their success, but many times it takes away their explosiveness in attack.

Lazio rarely rely on crossing attempts to expose the opposition and that immediately decreased the number of shots they produce per game. Instead, they try to penetrate through short passing, smart positioning and through balls.

They tend to involve a few players upfront and use smart runs to the box to break through defences. The players’ positional sense has been key to their successful actions in front of the goal and the main reason for Lazio being leaders in terms of shot accuracy with 44.6% of their shots being on target. Of course, a huge part of their success is the attacking players’ finishing abilities, but what makes the difference is their placement in the final third and their ability to exploit spaces.

Ciro Immobile dragged his marker out of position and freed up space for Mattia Zaccagni who outran his opponent and managed to shoot.It might not be that easy to execute that strategy against Napoli, but they could force them into their trap. Quite a few of Gli Azzurri’s conceded goals have been a result of poor marking in and around the box followed by individual errors. They sometimes find themselves with fewer men in defence and struggle to cover the opposition, especially when it comes to skilful players. That happens mainly due to individual mistakes and the players failing in their direct challenges, rather than the team marking strategy.