Overloaded Inter risk losing Serie A title race to focused Napoli

Inter’s Serie A title defence is on the line, with the busy champions chasing a fresher Napoli side, who have the finishing line within sight.

Simone Inzaghi’s side played nine matches in April compared to Napoli’s four and, after a hectic season, could end up paying a high price for the demands of battling on all fronts.

Inter’s treble bid ended last month with their Coppa Italia exit to rivals AC Milan, after a two-legged semi-final, but their Champions League dream is still alive following Wednesday’s dramatic 3-3 draw at Barcelona in the semi-final first leg.

While that ended a run of three consecutive defeats for Inter across all competitions, they remain winless in their last five outings, with their last win coming back on April 12 at home to Cagliari.

The draw at Barca saw the return of Marcus Thuram, who scored the fastest Champions League semi-final goal in the competition’s history, but they will probably be without injured captain Lautaro Martinez when they host lowly Verona on Saturday.

Martinez went off at half-time in midweek with a hamstring problem, and Inzaghi, who will not be in the dugout due to a one-match suspension, is unlikely to risk him with the return leg at San Siro next Tuesday.

Inter are both the team that have beaten Verona the most times in Serie A (41), and the team that have scored the most against them in the competition (117). Verona have never beaten the Nerazzurri in the Italian top-flight (D11 L22).

Verona, 15th in the standings, are seven points above the relegation zone, but with games against fellow strugglers Lecce and Empoli still to come, they cannot take any chances.

The Opta supercomputer expects Napoli to hold onto top spot by the end of the season, giving them an 81.8% chance of lifting the Scudetto. Inter’s chances sit at 18.2%.

Antonio Conte took over a Napoli side with no European football after a 10th-place finish last season, and an early exit from the Coppa Italia has seen them free of any other commitments since early December.

Napoli’s Coppa Italia defeat by Lazio was followed by a league loss to the same opposition, but Conte’s side then went on a 10-game unbeaten run, which allowed them to take back the top spot, which Atalanta had briefly taken from them.

A defeat by Como in February saw Napoli slip to second as Inter looked to have hit the front at just the right time, but two consecutive league losses by Inzaghi’s men mean Conte’s side have a three-point lead with four games remaining.

Napoli visit Lecce on Saturday, and a win will move them six points clear at the top before Inter kick-off.

At this point in the campaign, after 34 matches played, Napoli are the team that have improved the most compared to the same stage last season (24 more points), which is at least double that of any other team to feature in both seasons.

Lecce are without a win in 11 games and are one place and two points above the drop zone, although they did claim a 1-1 draw at Atalanta last time out.

Conte will be without defender Alessandro Buongiorno, who could miss the season run-in with a groin injury, but midfielder Frank Anguissa should recover after also going off injured in last weekend’s 2-0 win over Torino.

Atalanta are aiming to maintain their grip on third place when they travel to bottom club Monza on Sunday.

Juventus are at Bologna, also on Sunday, in a Champions League qualification showdown. Juve occupy fourth spot, three points behind Atalanta and one above Bologna.

Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina are also in the hunt for a Champions League place. Roma, unbeaten in 18 league games, host Fiorentina on Sunday, while Lazio are at Empoli.

Milan, ninth in the standings, are at Genoa on Monday.