Osimhen keen to be among Napoli’s leaders as they eye Juventus scalp in Serie A race

• Osimhen is relishing his leadership role at Napoli

• The striker wants everyone to stay motivated

• Nigeria international is Serie A’s leading scorer

WHAT HAPPENED? Osimhen scored his 10^th league goal and 11 in all competitions when he opened the scoring for Napoli in their 2-0 Serie A victory against Sampdoria.

The Nigeria international had a good game with his goal displaying why he is one of the world’s most complete strikers, given how he was able to take an opportunity to get in between two defenders and connect with Mario Rui’s cross to score.

Osimhen’s movement in and out of possession caused the Sampdoria backline plenty of problems and while he is leading from the front, he wants to ensure everyone is on board as his club chase its first league title in 33 years.

WHAT DID HE SAY? “I want to say thank you to the coach for believing in me,” Osimhen told DAZN as quoted by Football Italia.

“Someone has to stand up for the team and speak, we cannot always wait for it be captain [Giovanni] Di Lorenzo, and the coach also gave us [the] motivation we need. Anyone can stand up and speak for the team.

“Of course, I have to motivate my teammates, just as they motivate me, we have to keep speaking to each other and keep going.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The Nigeria international regained his scoring touch after getting criticised for a toothless display as Napoli suffered their first Serie A defeat when they lost 1-0 to Inter Milan on Wednesday.

Osimhen has now scored eight goals in his last 10 league games and remains top on the Serie A leading scorers’ list with 10, two ahead of Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, M'Bala Nzola of Spezia and Bologna’s Marko Arnautovic, who are all tied on eight.

Victory leaves Napoli top of Serie A with 44 points, seven ahead of Juventus, who they face in their next league game on Friday.

WHAT’S MORE? Osimhen is looking forward to the meeting with the Old Lady, Serie A’s in-form team, who has put together eight straight wins to get back into the title race, after their early season struggles.

“Big game [against Juventus], big team, we have a great squad and the most important thing is to win,” he added.

“Any player can make the difference for us. Now we go back, relax and then start training to prepare for the game with Juventus.”

WHAT’S NEXT? Osimhen will be required to be at his very best against Juventus during Friday’s meeting at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.