The twentieth edition of ‘Round the Sports World in five minutes’ takes us to Napoli for a crucial Serie A clash between Antonio Conte’s men and the ever-dangerous Inter Milan on Saturday, while things are certainly heating up in the F1 World Championship as the three-horse race for the title heads to the heat and altitude of Mexico City.
Napoli - Inter Milan (Serie A)
- Start: Saturday, 25 October, at 17:00
- Venue: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli
- Live Coverage: TNT Sports 1
- Fun Fact: Romelu Lukaku of Napoli, who also played at Inter Milan for three seasons, may have had a career that took him to nine different clubs and counting, as he never really settled, but it's been a different story when playing for Belgium. His 124 caps have yielded 89 goals - a goal every 1.39 matches for his country. Lukaku misses out here with an injury, though.
Betting
In what is a typically tight match on paper, the odds are tight with the bookies, too. Napoli is sitting at 2.75 to win, with Inter at 2.63 and the draw at 3.2 odds.
It’s a bit surprising Inter are a bit shorter than Napoli, considering where the game is being staged and that they’re tied on points in the Serie A table. But maybe that can be explained by Inter’s strong recent record in this fixture, where they have avoided defeat in four of their last five visits here, the results being: 1-1, 3-1 (to Napoli), 0-3 (to Inter), 1-1 and 1-1.
It’s impossible to ignore the fact that three of the last five here have ended 1-1, so that scoreline is certainly worth a look: it’s the favourite on the correct score at 6.0.
On goalscorer markets, Inter’s Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram, who each have three Serie A goals this season, are 2.75 and 3.2 to score anytime, while Rasmus Hojlund is 12/5 as an anytime scorer. The Dane had a tough time at Manchester United before moving to Napoli on loan, but has now scored in each of his last three games.
Summary
With the demise of Juventus in recent years, it’s been left to Napoli and Juventus to make up Serie A’s biggest rivalry these days, with Inter winning Italy’s top division in 2020-21 and 2023-24 and Napoli doing so in 2022-3 and 2024-25. The latter win by Napoli was a bitter fight to the end, Antonio Conte’s men clinching the title by just a single point, with Inter unsurprisingly the team to only just miss out.
Conte, who made a name for himself as a brilliant all-action midfielder for Juventus and Italy in the 90s, was the coach of Inter Milan between 2019 and 2021. He delivered them the Serie A title before falling out with the club owners, not for the first time in Conte’s career, and leaving under a bit of a cloud, despite his sporting achievements at the club.
Ever the fierce competitor, he’ll be desperate to get one over his old club in this game.
This match has significant relevance beyond these two being rivals these days. Though it’s AC Milan who are just about top of the table on 16 points, Inter and Napoli are tied on 15 points, with Inter just ahead on goal difference. Both have five wins and two losses from their seven games so far.
Formula One Mexican Grand Prix
- Start: 26 October, at 20:00
- Venue: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City
- Coverage: Sky Sports F1
- Fun Fact: Oscar Piatstri needs to relax and unwind when he’s not racing cars at lightning speed. His preferred ways of doing so are by playing video games and cooking. We wonder if he drives as himself when playing F1 video games.
Betting
And then there were three. After 19 races (out of 24) of the F1 season, the latest of which was held in the USA on Sunday, there are three drivers who are in strong positions to win the World Championship.
Latest odds with 10BET have Max Verstappen (306 points) as the current 2.5 favourite to win the Championship, with Oscar Piastri 2.63 (currently on 346 points) and Lando Norris just about the biggest priced of the three at 2.88. Norris is on 332 points before we head to the Mexican Grand Prix.
It's a little curious that Verstappen is the favourite to go all the way when he’s trailing his rivals by 26 and 40 points respectively.
But then again, it’s been all Verstappen of late. The Dutchman, a four-time World Champion, will have been disappointed not to have won his home event in late August. But he more than made up for it over the next month and a half or so, winning three of the next four in Italy, Azerbaijan and in the USA last week to get right back in the mix of things. And this after it looked like a two-horse race between Norris and Piastri for much of the season.
Perhaps there’s more to Verstappen’s status as favourite than just recent form. As we know, he’s been there and done it when it comes to being crowned F1 World Champion on four occasions in his career; the bookies are thinking that when it comes to a crunch moment, that experience could make all the difference.
Summary
Situated at a high altitude (over 2,000 m above sea level), Mexico City's thin air significantly affects car performance, especially engine power and aerodynamics, meaning the teams and drivers will have to deal with significantly different conditions than what they’re used to at most other circuits on the calendar.
All races from hereon will be vital, but if Norris and Piastri think this is a good opportunity to halt Verstappen’s momentum, they have another think coming.
This is one of Verstappen’s favourite tracks, with four wins in his last seven visits to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Drivers will have to complete 71 laps of the 4.304 circuit, with tyre wear a significant consideration due to the altitude, which also makes it tougher on the drivers themselves, with breathing tougher than usual.
With his recent form and love of this track, Verstappen is the 2.38 favourite with 10Bet to win in Mexico, with Norris 3.25 and Piastri surprisingly out at 3.75.
As usual, that trio are all odds-on for a podium finish with Verstappen the shortest price of the three at 1.25, Norris 1.44 and Piastri 1.62.
Meanwhile, it’s been a poor season for veterans Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who are down in sixth and 12th places respectively in the overall standings.
But knowledge of this unique circuit may finally provide them with a chance of a podium finish. Hamilton has won this race twice before (2016 and 2019) and is 4.33 for a Top 3, while Alonso, whose best result this season was a fifth-place finish in Hungary, is 17.0 to be on the podium come Sunday afternoon.
Betting Tip of the Week
There was a near miss last week with Liverpool v Man Utd finishing 1-2 and denying us the fourth goal we needed in the game.
Looking at Napoli v Inter, both teams to score is an attractive price at 1.8. The bet would have been a winner in seven of the last 10 between the two, while Napoli had eight straight matches with goals at both ends last season, so the BTTS potential is certainly there.
BTTs looks a solid bet at 1.8, with 1-1 a good alternative at 6.0, if you’re after a considerably bigger price.
