Chievo had gone nine competitive games without registering a victory until the weekend and were plummeting towards the bottom-three of the table. They were not so much as inviting relegation into their house as preparing a feast for the relegation demon to saviour. Their season was collapsing fast.
At the weekend, though, the Flying Donkeys returned to their senses as they comprehensively defeated Brescia 3-0 away from home. The three points saw them jump back into the respectability of mid-table and increased the gap between them and the dropzone to a considerable seven points.
Heading into tonight's fixture against Napoli, Chievo will be brimming with confidence after going four Serie A fixtures unbeaten. Chievo have lost just twice at home in Verona in the league and earlier in the season hammered Napoli 3-1 in Naples.
Closing In On Milan
Last night Serie A leaders Milan increased the gap between themselves and Napoli to five points but with the Partenopei playing today in Verona that lead could be trimmed down to just two.
Walter Mazzarri's side have been in excellent form this campaign and are going great guns, and although they are not flaring up talks of their first Scudetto since 1990, with such opportunities presenting themselves the Azzurri will be keen to take advantage.
Napoli head to Verona on the back of a 4-0 thrashing of Sampdoria in Naples with Edinson Cavani firing in three goals and Marek Hamsik also chipping in. It stretched the Azzurri's unbeaten league run to four games and helped them finish January on a high after starting the month (and the new year) with a 3-1 defeat to Inter.
The former Italian champions have an encouraging away form too as they have registered six wins in 11 league fixtures on the road, scoring 15 goals in the process. They will also take heart from the fact that their last away match in Serie A ended in a 2-0 victory in Bari.
TEAM NEWS
Chievo
Luciano and Marcolini are injured and will miss the visit of Napoli.
Napoli
Grava, Vitale and Yebda are injured and will miss the trip to Verona. Lavezzi and Mascara are suspended.
Prediction
A win for Napoli seems a logical result but Chievo will be buoyed after their win at the weekend and will hope to defeat the Neapolitans. It will be a hard-fought match and one suspects that eventually the away side would win. Just.
Chievo 1-2 Napoli 
