After being held to a frustrating home draw in Europe, Napoli return to Serie A duty on Sunday, as they host struggling Empoli at Stadio Maradona.
In their final fixture before the upcoming international break, the Scudetto holders will aim to improve their patchy record in Naples this season and also keep in touch with Italy's top three.
Although in-form winger Matteo Politano put the Partenopei ahead before the break, a spirited Union side equalised early in the second half at Stadio Maradona, where the home team have toiled so far in a mixed 2023-24 campaign.
Napoli may be averaging an excellent 2.33 points per game in Serie A away matches this term, but that rate drops to just 1.4 on home soil, as the pressure of living up to last term's title heroics perhaps takes its toll on Rudi Garcia's side.
After a 2-0 defeat of Salernitana last week, the champions moved on to 21 points - some seven shy of leaders Inter. Since Serie A returned to 20 teams in 2004, only one club has gone on to win the Scudetto with such a tally or lower from the first 11 rounds: Juventus, eight years ago.
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