Napoli and Torino kick off the 8th Round of Serie A, with numerous players from both squads returning from international duty.
SSC Napoli
Napoli come into this match having won five consecutive matches in all competitions. Luciano Spalletti had plenty of time to prepare for the match, but most of his players did not. Napoli had 15 players away on international duty.
This has been a favourable match-up in recent history for the Partenopei, who haven’t lost to Torino in 14 consecutive matches (10 wins, 4 draws).
Torino FC
After winning three of their first five matches (albeit against the three newly promoted clubs), Torino have lost three of their last four.
Torino suffered 1-0 defeats in consecutive matches, and in each case their opponent scored in the dying minutes of the match.
Marcelo Brozovic scored in the 89th minute to secure a 1-0 victory for Inter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. A week later, Sassuolo youngster Agustin Alvarez scored in the 93rd minute to earn 0-1 victory at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino.
Injuries/Suspensions
Victor Osimhen remains sidelined with a thigh injury, and is not expected to return until mid-October. In the meantime, Diego Demme has recovered from the muscle injury that has kept him out of the squad for the majority of the season.
Matteo Politano was called up to the Italy national team but returned to Napoli from Coverciano due to an ankle injury suffered against Milan. However, Politano’s recovery has been rapid. The right winger completed two full trainings sessions ahead of this match.
Finally, Gianluca Gaetano will not be available for the match. The young midfielder did not participate in Friday’s training session due to flu-like symptoms.
For Torino, Mergim Vojvoda, Samuele Ricci and Pietro Pellegri are all close to recovering from their respective muscle injuries, but will likely miss the match against Napoli.
Meanwhile, Aleksey Miranchuk has recovered from a thigh injury that kept him out since Torino’s opening match of the season against Monza.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Luciano Spalletti:
“Torino is a tough customer. We know the value of the team and the club, as well as of Juric’s way of working: there is to be better than them, to interpret well the buildup play from the back and the Milinkovic-Savic long ball, directly from one area to another. Then the midfielders who support and know how to play and defend in multiple ways, even if they like to fight all-out man against man. It says a lot about the difficulty of tomorrow’s game, but we want to win difficult and not easy matches. We are ready.”
Ivan Juric:
“Napoli has grown in the fact that they press high, now you see Rrahmani shortening 20 meters in front of the half-court and accepting one-on-one situations, even outnumbered in the back to press hard. There will be times when there will be spaces, and others in which they will close, but I have seen a more offensive Napoli against Milan and Fiorentina. In attack, with Miranchuk we raise the technical level and maybe even for Sanabria it is good to have a partner like this. We just have to find harmony between them to be more dangerous.”
Previous Meetings
| May 7, 2022 | Torino FC | 0-1 | SSC Napoli |
| October 17, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 1-0 | Torino FC |
| April 26, 2021 | Torino FC | 0-2 | SSC Napoli |
| December 23, 2020 | SSC Napoli | 1-1 | Torino FC |
| September 29, 2020 | SSC Napoli | 2-1 | Torino FC |
Match Officials
Head Official: Luca Massimi
Assistants: Alessandro Cipressa and Marco Scatragli
Fourth Official: Giacomo Camplone
VAR: Francesco Forneau and Paolo Valeri
