Napoli FC

Expect the unexpected when the Italian league season kicks off this weekend. Serie A has become the most unpredictable of Europe's five biggest soccer leagues with four different champions over the last six seasons. Add in that last season marked the second time in four years the title race went down to the last round and it could be considered the most competitive, too. By comparison, only Liverpool or Manchester City have won the Premier League in the last eight seasons; Spain is mostly a two-team show with Real Madrid and Barcelona; Bayern Munich has won 12 of the last 13 Bundesliga titles; and Paris Saint-Germain is just as dominant in France. So while Napoli is favored to repeat as champion this season, there's a handful of serious challengers: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Roma and Atalanta. Napoli edged Inter by one point last season in a race that was so close it raised the possibility of a single-match playoff to determine the title a rule that remains in place for th

A few weeks ago when Napoli was struggling for goals and its title hopes were fading, coach Antonio Conte told Scott McTominay the team needed more from the midfielder. The Scotland international got the message. McTominay's late header secured a 1-0 win at last-placed Monza on Saturday to pull Napoli level with Serie A leader Inter Milan. It was his third goal in two games. McTominay evaded his marker to redirect a cross from Giacomo Raspadori in the 72nd minute for his 10th goal across all competitions for Napoli this season. We just have to keep doing our job, keep winning. At the business end of the season that's what you got to do, McTominay said. It's getting that level every game. We have a coach who is very, very demanding who expects that from us every game. So for us it's about pressuring Inter Milan and seeing where that gets us. Napoli struggled for long periods and Matteo Politano failed to finish off a big chance moments before McTominay's score. These are games tha

Napoli kept up the pressure on Serie A leader Inter Milan as it finally got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina. Romelu Lukaku on Sunday scored one and set up the other for Giacomo Raspadori to help Napoli move back to within a point of Inter, which fought back from two goals down to beat Monza 3-2 on Saturday. Atalanta proved it is very much among the fray with a statement 4-0 win at fourth-placed Juventus to close the gap back to three points to Inter. According to statistics provider Opta, it was the first time Juventus had lost a league match at home by four goals in nearly 60 years since a loss by the same score to Torino in October 1967. Atalanta's title credentials will be truly tested next weekend when it hosts Inter. Fiorentina's hopes of making it into the top four diminished after its fourth loss in five league matches. Napoli also came into the match on a mediocre run, having drawn four of its past five matches and losing the other. But the hosts