Rome, Italy – Napoli's title charge will face a major test on Saturday at third-place Lazio as the club looks to continue its pursuit of Serie A leaders Juventus.
Napoli enters the weekend three points back of the defending champions, who will host sixth-place Fiorentina earlier on Saturday, and Napoli defender Paolo Cannavaro knows what his team is up against.
"Tomorrow will be the toughest challenge we've faced so far," Cannavaro said of Saturday's match.
"Lazio are one of the trickiest opponents to beat and especially when they're at home. They have a great team that rises to the occasion for the big matches."
Lazio is a team that needs to be at its best on Saturday after back-to-back losses have dropped the club six points behind Napoli, while both AC Milan and Inter Milan have moved to within three points of the capital side.
Napoli is unbeaten in its last six Serie A contests, and outside of suspended midfielder Blerim Dzemaili, Napoli will have its key pieces ready for the game.
However, Lazio cannot say the same as the club will be without leading scorer Miroslav Klose, who is expected to miss eight weeks because of a leg injury.
Lazio has brought in France striker Louis Saha as cover after his release from Sunderland, but manager Vladimir Petkovic will also be missing Ederson, Cristian Brocchi and Hernanes through injury as well.
AC Milan will try to continue its climb up the table with three more points at Cagliari on Sunday, while Inter will entertain Chievo with the Nerazzurri attempting to snap a three-game winless streak.
Genoa sits one point above the drop zone and travels to Parma, Atalanta entertains Catania, Bologna takes on Siena, Pescara is one point from safety and travels to last-place Palermo, Roma hopes to claim its first win in six games when the club faces Sampdoria, while Torino puts a seven-match unbeaten streak on the line at Udinese.
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