It’s been a while since Serie A had a title race like this.

The last couple of seasons hasn’t made for gripping viewing as far as the Scudetto race is concerned. 

Last season, Inter won their 20th league title at a canter, with the title sown up by March amid a catastrophic title defence from Napoli and poor challenges from Juventus, AC Milan and others.

The season before was Napoli’s first title since Diego Maradona, and while everyone immersed themselves in the ecstasy of a first title heading to the Bay of Naples for 33 years, it too was won at a canter, with Luciano Spalletti’s side blowing everyone away by March, and even as their form dipped in the spring, it was still enough to win the league by 16 points.

The last true title race was Milan’s win in 2022, when they narrowly beat city rivals Inter by two points. The turning point came in the Olivier Giroud-inspired comeback in the Derby della Madonnina in the February.

Fast forward just over three years and we have Serie A’s biggest title fight since then, with the Nerazzurri travelling south to Naples on Saturday evening.

Yet it just isn’t a fight between Napoli and Inter for the title, Atalanta continue to stay in the hunt for what is a three-horse race that continues to surprise.

Several weeks ago, it seemed almost certain that La Dea were out of the title race after a 3-2 home defeat to Napoli in one of the games of the season. This was on the back of three consecutive draws, and most believed a horse had been lost.

Yet Gian Piero Gasperini’s side have come roaring back, with three wins in their last five league games. 

After the win in Bergamo, it was Napoli who suffered a drop in form. Old enemy Juve were beaten at home but then — like Atalanta — Antonio Conte’s men drew three games in a row.

Fortunately for Napoli, they’ve been helped by two Inter defeats in the past four games, with Fiorentina and Juve inflicting losses.

Simone Inzaghi’s troops, still arguably the best team in the league, have shown signs of fatigue in recent weeks. 

Starting XI mainstays Lautaro Martinez, Alessandro Bastoni, Nicolo Barella and Henrik Mkhitaryan have clocked up well over 2,000 minutes on the pitch in Serie A alone, and the same applies to Denzel Dumfries, Marcus Thuram and Federico Dimarco.

Inter look increasingly leggy and playing in four competitions is, despite boasting the best squad depth in the league, beginning to take its toll.

Yet Inzaghi still has match winners in reserve. Look no further than Mirko Arnautovic’s sumptuous volley against Lazio in the Coppa Italia this week. The Austrian has only played a handful of games for Inter, amassing a total of 152 minutes in Serie A, yet scored the winner against Fiorentina recently, and helped Inter into the semi-final of the cup and a two-legged derby with Milan.

Piotr Zielinski, a former Napoli staple and someone who would start in most midfields in the league, has played a mere 788 minutes this season, equal to eight full games. 

Davide Frattesi, who cost the club some €35m, has played a little more, with 812 minutes.

Inzaghi will be relieved that Thuram, whose goals have dried up since the turn of the year, is back in training and will play from the start in Naples. Conte, in the opposite dugout, doesn’t have such luxuries.

Napoli’s week leading into the game has been overshadowed by the news of injury to midfielder Franck-Zambo Anguissa. 

Anguissa was, ironically, rested for the defeat against Como in order to keep him fresh for Inter, only for the Cameroonian to suffer an injury in training.

The loss of Anguissa will be hard for Conte. There is little in the way of alternatives, as few players in the current Napoli team have his characteristics. Billy Gilmour is more of a Stanislav Lobotka replacement.

The tall frame of Philip Billing will likely be the one to get the nod in the starting XI. On loan from Bournemouth, Billing started in the 2-1 defeat against Como and produced a positive performance against the Lariani. 

Yet there is talk in the Italian media that Conte may switch formations in order to mask the shortcomings in his starting XI.

He has already shifted systems this season. We saw it in the 2-2 draw with Lazio, in which he utilised a 3-5-2 in order to get the most out of Giacomo Raspadori in light of David Neres’ injury. 

Raspadori produced the goods in the capital, scoring Napoli’s equaliser and causing Lazio trouble by ghosting in between the lines.

Conte then altered formation again for the Como defeat, reverting back to his tried-and-trusted 4-3-3.

La Gazzetta remarks that Conte could change to a 4-2-3-1 for the Inter game. In that system, Lobotka and Gilmour would sit in the double pivot, while Scott McTominay would be pushed further forward alongside Matteo Politano and Leonardo Spinazzola in the attacking third.

This would be a rather bold move from Conte in the biggest game of the season. Considering Napoli haven’t used this system even once this season, it would be a massive call from the former Juventus and Inter coach to utilise it in the title decider.

Yet such a pivot is perhaps a last resort. What we are more likely to see is reverting back to a 3-5-2 or stick with a 4-3-3. 

The general consensus that playing once a week would suit Conte’s small squad down to the ground in the title run-in is, in the main, correct. Yet there was always the possibility that one or two injuries would derail momentum. And that’s what’s happened. 

Neres’ injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, mere weeks after selling Kvicha Kvaratskhelia to Paris Saint-Germain and the decision not to sign a replacement could come back to haunt Aurelio De Laurentiis come May.

Moreover, Neres was just finding his feet in Naples after a slow start to life in Italy, and Conte will be hoping the Brazilian returns to the field sharpish.

Both Inter and Napoli’s recent splutters have allowed Atalanta back into the title race, and now only three points separate the sides.

With Atalanta out of Europe and Inter fighting on three fronts, the final three months of the season will prove to be as entertaining as it will unpredictable. 

A Napoli win on Saturday will restore confidence in Conte’s patched up team; a Nerazzurri win may end any title challenge once and for all.

Meanwhile in Bergamo, Gasperini will be looking on with special interest.