Gennaro Gattuso insists there is no pressure on Lazio ahead of Sunday's clash with Napoli, adding he would be fortunate to even achieve a quarter of what Massimiliano Allegri has done in his career.

Lazio have been the surprise package in Serie A so far this campaign, earning 28 points from their first 10 matches.

In the three-points-for-a-win era (since 2994-95), only four teams had previously reached that tally within 10 games – Juventus (in 2012-13 and 2018-19), Roma (2013-14), Napoli (2017-18 and 2021-22) and AC Milan (2021-22). 

Of those six instances, all except Juventus in 2012-13 won their 11th match to reach 31 points.

The Opta supercomputer now assigns the Biancocelesti a 12.3% chance of winning the Scudetto, compared to just a 0.5% hope for Napoli, but Gattuso – who coached the Partenopei between 2019 and 2021, winning the Coppa Italia – sees his side as underdogs.

"It depends on how you look at it. We don't have any pressure on us, especially tomorrow,2 Gattuso said, as quoted by Football Italia. 

"We're aware of the fact that we will go to play in a tough stadium against a strong team that is going through a difficult period. It will take humility and for us to be at our best."

Gattuso then added that reaching 40 points – and ensuring they will not get dragged into an unlikely relegation battle – remains the first hurdle for Lazio to clear.

He said: "We have to think game by game, there are 12 points left for us to get, then, once we've hit 40 points, we'll have a big celebration for reaching our first goal."

NEXT MATCH   #NapoliLazio  AWAY  8.11.26  H. 12:30 https://t.co/2eR0MMY9EZ

— S.S.Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) November 4, 2026

While Gattuso has made a tremendous start to his first campaign in charge of Lazio, Allegri – who coached the former midfielder at Milan – has struggled early on at Napoli.

Allegri surprisingly cancelled his pre-match press conference 10 minutes before it was due to take place on Saturday, with Napoli's players being forced into a training retreat amid rumours surrounding their head coach's future.

In three previous managerial meetings between the duo, all of which came when Gattuso was in charge of Milan and Allegri was with Juventus, the now-Lazio boss has suffered three defeats. 

"Max was my captain in Serie B [with Perugia] and then my coach," Gattuso said of Allegri. "History says that I've never won against him. 

"I hope to achieve a quarter of what he's achieved. Knowing him, I know that he does not suffer from stress. In moments of difficulty, he always knows the right things to do."

Napoli have picked up 14 points in their first ten Serie A matches this season (W4 D2 L4); they have not lost five of their first 11 league games since 2000-01, while a draw against Lazio would equal their worst start in terms of points (15) since 2007-08.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Napoli – Kevin De Bruyne

De Bruyne, who has scored four goals in Serie A this season, is looking to become the second midfielder to reach five goals in the competition in both 2025-26 and 2026-27, after AC Milan's Adrien Rabiot.

The Manchester City legend has scored three goals in his last five Serie A outings, as many as he netted in his previous 18 in the competition.

Lazio – Gustav Isaksen

Isaksen has scored four goals in his last five Serie A appearances, as many goals as he netted in his previous 29 outings in the competition. 

He is just one goal from matching his best tally in a Serie A season (five in 30 appearances in 2025-26) and is looking to score in three consecutive league appearances for the first time since a run of four matches between May and June 2023 with Midtjylland.

MATCH PREDICTION – NAPOLI WIN

The Opta supercomputer makes Napoli slight favourites on their own turf, but the omens do not look great for the Partenopei.

Indeed, Napoli have lost their last four Serie A home games against Lazio, their longest home losing streak against a single opponent in the competition. 

It is Lazio's joint-longest ongoing away winning streak, inferior only to their run against Empoli (six, also four straight wins versus Genoa).

Additionally, Lazio's six-match winning run in Serie A is their longest since the 2019-20 season, when they achieved 11 successive victories under Simone Inzaghi.

Lazio have also won all five of their away games in Serie A this season; the last team to achieve six wins in their first six away matches was Inter in 2019-20, but the Biancocelesti could become the first team to ever achieve that feat three times, after doing so in 2002-03 and 2017-18.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Napoli – 42.4%

Lazio – 32.2%

Draw – 25.4%