COMMENT: Why Osimhen needs a statement performance against Inter

Napoli head into Sunday’s match against Inter with a chance to pull clear at the top of the Serie A standings.

AC Milan’s entertaining 4-3 defeat at the hands of Fiorentina on Saturday was the first loss of the season for the Rossoneri, and was only the second time this season that Stefano Pioli’s side had dropped points on the road this term. The upshot of that reverse is that a win for il Partenopei will see them edge three points ahead, in addition to their already healthy goal differential advantage.

Luciano Spalletti’s men would then be in the box seat, with not only that lead over Milan, but also with ten points worth of daylight between them and third place. 

While the stakes are clearly quite high for Napoli, they are perhaps higher still for star striker Victor Osimhen.

The Nigeria international is now very much the face of the club, averaging a goal every other game in Serie A but, even more importantly, knitting together Napoli’s play in attack and giving them depth. After a difficult debut season, the division is finally awakening to the realization of just what the 22-year-old can do.

Perhaps the most striking thing about watching Osimhen in Italy is his sheer presence, and how much of a fear factor he has going for him. No one in Serie A has won more penalties, and when he is in full flow he can often seem like something from a ‘Build A Player’ module on a football video game if you went ham on speed, agility, strength and jumping. We have seen teams vary their approach in a bid to contain him - a huge compliment in itself - but tellingly those gameplans have ranged widely from sitting deep to pushing up, and none has completely managed to keep him quiet (Verona, who had the most success, still were the width of the post away from conceding). No one quite knows what to do with him.

It is a fear that wafts up into the stands as well. “He makes me lose sleep,” Italy legend Sandro Mazzola told Napoli official radio station Kiss Kiss. “Every time he touches the ball he manages to amaze me; it’s surprising.”

Mazzola, who spent 17 years with Inter as a player, will hope his former club have better luck keeping a lid on Osimhen than most have. All things considered though, this is probably the best time to be facing the Nigerian, as he has not scored in over a month; not since his towering winner against Torino has he found the back of the net in Serie A.

While, in fairness (and on account of a calf strain), that drought has only taken in three league matches, it is a barren patch Osimhen will be keen to arrest. It will, however, not be the only one.

Against the rest of Italy’s seven sisters - the modern iteration containing Juventus, Inter, Milan, Atalanta, Lazio and Roma - the 22-year-old has a surprisingly tepid record.

His first goal in Serie A of course came against Atalanta last season, and he scored in the 5-2 rout of Lazio back in April. Beyond that, however, the slate is empty: in 612 minutes of action against the seven sisters, Osimhen has often hit a brick wall.

It stands to reason that the league’s best sides would provide the sternest resistance to any player, of course. It is less a problem than it is a quirk, albeit one which the player himself would no doubt be keen to address. While all matches promise three points, not all make legends: it is precisely against the very best sides that Osimhen’s effectiveness will be most keenly tested, and it is his contributions against that calibre of opponent that will afford him the most credit.

The dismissal of certain strikers as flat-track bullies will always betray a lack of understanding of football. However, there is a great deal of value to be mined in being seen as being capable of preying on both weak and strong equally. The apex predator will isolate the infirm for an easy kill, but will happily pursue the able-bodied as well.

It is, arguably, the one thing left to complete the profile of a truly fearsome bomber, the only item missing in Osimhen’s repertoire: a truly big scalp in a top-of-the-table clash.