Napoli vs Fiorentina, for Nigeria national football team fans, is an opportunity for Victor Osimhen to continue to prove that he is “HIM”, as fans on social media will say.
The 24-year-old striker is the focus of the club at the moment thanks to the saga involving him and the now-fired Napoli social media manager.
With his goalscoring form now seemingly back to normal and Lautaro Martinez beating him in the Capocannoniere race, a goal in the Napoli vs Fiorentina game on matchday 8 of the 2023/24 Serie A season will do wonders for his self confidence.
✨ Good vibes only
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/UheGIMQ4M5
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) October 6, 2023
More Osimhen controversy ahead of Napoli vs Fiorentina
The striker's last appearance for the Partenopei ahead of Napoli vs Fiorentina was in the UEFA Champions League. Napoli hosted Real Madrid at the Diego Maradona Stadium on Tuesday 3 October 2023 and the expected outcome happened.
The 14-time Champions League winners triumphed and Victor Osimhen failed to find the back of the net. This is an indictment on the player who has consistently failed to find the back of the net against the biggest teams while playing for Napoli, either in the Italian Serie A, the Coppa Italia or in UEFA competitions.
While he battles the demons that hold him back from scoring in the biggest matches, he is now facing another issue off the field.
Victor Osimhen's image and likeness was used in creating a doll called the Cicciobello Bomber and the player's agent, who threatened legal action over the club's social media gaffe a little over a week ago, raised issues again.
🔵🇳🇬 Napoli official statement: “We’re denying any report on the Italian media about releasing kids toy ‘Cicciobello Bomber’ inspired by Victor Osimhen in Napoli shirt”.
“That product was not authorized by the club — we will settle this issue in court”. https://t.co/S5rCJTTco2 pic.twitter.com/g8RLYS9GxE
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 5, 2023
It was believed that the club authorised the doll's creation, thereby costing Osimhen the profits from his image rights. The club has stated that it will take the doll makers to court over the issue, claiming it had nothing to do with the creation.
Osimhen and the club's relationship is at an all-time low at the moment, which makes Napoli vs Fiorentina an important match for him beyond the club's goals of defending their Serie A title.
Napoli vs Fiorentina preview, team news and predicted lineups
Victor Osimhen is expected to start and play the full Napoli vs Fiorentina game. The striker has scored twice and provided one assist in five games against their Sunday 8 October 2023 opponents. They will be the perfect opponents to get him firing again in the Serie A as he seeks to prove that he is not a one-season wonder.
Rudi Garcia, meanwhile, will hope not to end their 15-game unbeaten league run against Vincenzo Italiano's side and so he will put forth his best team. It is expected that he plays the same side that faced Real Madrid in midweek thanks to the fact that Fiorentina are having a fast start to their league season.
🏹 Most shots taken without scoring a goal in the #UCL this season:
🥇 Victor Osimhen – 13
🥈 𝐄𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 – 𝟏𝟐👀 Last season's top scorer is still waiting to get off the mark…
(Source: @WhoScored) pic.twitter.com/qEiEryPTmE
— SSC Napoli Club Nigeria 🇳🇬 🥇🏆 🏆 🏆 (@SSCNapoliNGA) October 6, 2023
Fiorentina have scored four times in the first 15 minutes of each of their seven league games to date. They also have 11 first half goals. Osimhen will be playing with the strongest lineup possible when I Viola come visiting.
Here are the predicted lineups for Napoli vs Fiorentina.
Napoli
Goalkeeper: Alex Meret
Defenders: Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Leo Østigard, Natan, Mario Rui
Midfielders: André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka, Piotr Zielinski
Attackers: Matteo Politano, Victor Osimhen, Kvicha Kvaratskhelia
Fiorentina
Goalkeeper: Pietro Terracciano
Defenders: Michael Kayode, Nikola Milenkovic, Martinez Quarta, Fabiano Parisi
Midfielders: Arthur Melo, Alfred Duncan, Nicolas Gonzalez, Giacomo Bonaventura, Josip Brekalo
Attacker: M'Bala Nzola
Napoli vs Fiorentina lineup
*Lineups will be updated as soon as they are released.
Napoli vs Fiorentina predictions
Prediction 1 – Victor Osimhen to score
Because it is an important game and because these are familiar opponents, Victor Osimhen is certain to get a goal in the Napoli vs Fiorentina game. Osimhen was also the goalscorer in the last game between both sides. We are still counting on him to hit 30 goals in the season. Read our conviction in this article.
Prediction 2 – Under 3.5 goals
Napoli vs Fiorentina head-to-head in the Serie A sees the Partenopei hold an advantage over I Viola. They have three wins from five with each match ending in under 3.5 goals.
Prediction 3 – Both teams to score
With the exception of the last outing in which Osimhen scored the winning penalty in Napoli vs Fiorentina, both teams have found the back of the net against each other. Fiorentina's goal record this season is also difficult to ignore which indicates that they will find the back of the net against Napoli.
Where to watch Napoli vs Fiorentina in Nigeria
Supersport on DStv and GOtv shows all Italian Serie A games in Nigeria. For those interested in streaming, purchasing a DStv Showmax subscription after downloading the Showmax app is the way to go.
This article was most recently revised and updated 3 weeks ago
