Why Napoli’s Scudetto run hinges on Romelu Lukaku

Napoli need Romelu Lukaku to stay healthy

Napoli suffered 3-0 loss at the hands of Atalanta over the weekend after a hot start to the 2024-25 Serie A season. They had only lost one match during their first 12 games and went undefeated over the course of their last 10 games prior to facing Atalanta.

A blowout loss might be what Napoli needed given the fact that the more matches that a club plays without losing, the more difficult it gets to maintain an unbeaten run.

Now, ifNapoli are going to have any chance at getting back on track and finishing the season with their second Serie A title over the past three years, they’ll need striker Romelu Lukaku to stay healthy because if he doesn’t, any Scudetto hopes will likely fade away.

Lukaku has been a major force so far this season for The Blues with four goals and four assists over the course of the first nine matches of the season that he’s played for the club.

If you remember, during the 2022-23 season, Victor Osimhen missed time late in the season with an injury and Napoli’s form suffered with the club only winning five of their last 11 matches. Now of course they didn’t have a problem securing their first league title in 33 years because they had such a huge lead over the rest of the clubs in Serie A. But they won’t be able to count on blowing away the competition this season with strong teams like Inter Milan and Atalanta right behind them.

So, not only does Napoli need Lukaku to stay healthy, they’ll need to him maintain his form for most of the season because we all know that Giovani Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori won’t be able to pick up the slack if Lukaku’s form drops off at some point.

Now, the good news is that despite this setback over the weekend, Napoli still remain in first place in Serie A with a one point lead over last season’s Scudetto winners Inter Milan, who they will face off against this coming Sunday. A big win at home over the Nerazzurri will certainly get Antonio Conte’s team back on track.