With Inter and Milan meeting this round in the Derby della Madonnina, Napoli have an opportunity to further extend their gap at the top of the table. However, it won’t be easy playing at the Stadio Alberto Picco against a Spezia side who are locked in a battle for survival.
Spezia Calcio
Spezia have had a difficult season; one that has been mired by injuries. After a stretch of games in which Spezia won only one match in 13, Gli Aquilotti found themselves sitting just above the relegation zone. Spezia subsequently went unbeaten between Matchdays 14 and 18, before losing consecutive matches to Roma and Bologna. However, Spezia have earned twice as many points playing at the Stadio Alberto Pico (2W-6D-2L) versus playing away from home (2W-0D-8L). The Eagles were very active in the January transfer market and given various absences, could field a very different squad to the one that came within minutes of holding the Azzurri to a scoreless draw at the Stadio Maradona in the Girone di Andata.
SSC Napoli
Napoli extended their winning streak to four games with another impressive victory over a direct rival in AS Roma. With Milan’s surprisingly heavy defeat to Sassuolo, Napoli extended the gap to their nearest rival – now Inter – to 13 points. That gap could be extended further if Napoli beat Spezia and Inter drop points in the Derby della Madonnina.
Injuries/Suspensions
Spezia are currently plagued with injuries. Goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet continues to recover from a torn posterior cruciate ligament suffered against Atalanta in early January. Left back João Moutinho, who joined Spezia on a free transfer from Orlando City in January, is out with an ankle injury.
Meanwhile, Spezia will be playing without four midfielders. Albin Ekdal has not featured since coming on as a substitute in Spezia’s Round 18 victory over Torino. Simone Bastoni is expected to miss at least two months after undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus injury. Szymon Zurkowski has only played seven minutes since joining from Fiorentina. Viktor Kovalenko is expected to miss 3-4 weeks after suffering a grade one adductor strain in his right thigh.
Finally, Spezia will be without their top two strikers. M’Bala Nzola is out for 3-4 weeks with a calf injury, while captain Emmanuel Gyasi is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 87th minute against Bologna. However, January signing Eldor Shomurodov will be available on Sunday.
For Napoli, Tanguy Ndombele missed training on Wednesday due to the flu and Amir Rrahmani, Stanislav Lobotka and Piotr Zielinski did individual training on Thursday, but all are expected to be in the squad on Sunday.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Luca Gotti:
“Napoli gave us the impression of being strong. All the players are in the right place, they have created beautiful mechanisms, it’s nice to see them play. There are emotional alchemies that reward a career path. Having said that, in this particular moment of the Championship, we don’t have nine players: Nzola, Bastoni, Gyazi, Ekdal, Holm, Kovalenko, Sala, Moutinho. You can make up for one or two shortcomings but nine is a lot. It’s a moment like this, in a positive situation we suddenly find ourselves managing this juncture. We will go onto the field and give everything. We have to think from match to match.”
Luciano Spalletti:
“Trap matches exist if we talk about easy victories. I hear talk of the derby, but Spezia doesn’t give a damn because they need points for the salvation they deserve given the history of the club and the city…As Di Lorenzo said, we know that Spezia can feel good on the pitch and I hope to find Gotti on the bench because he is a person who deserves to be there for the passion he has for the sport. They are also good at dribbling. In possession they have fast players they recognize this very well when they attack the space behind the back line. We’ll have to be careful to prevent this, trying to play the game and at the same time be mentally prepared to run back on their sudden long balls.”
Previous Meetings
| October 10, 2022 | SSC Napoli | 1-0 | Spezia Calcio |
| May 22, 2022 | Spezia Calcio | 0-3 | SSC Napoli |
| December 22, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 0-1 | Spezia Calcio |
| May 8, 2021 | Spezia Calcio | 1-4 | SSC Napoli |
| January 28, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 4-2 | Spezia Calcio |
Match Officials
Head Official: Marco Di Bello
Assistants: Fabiano Preti and Damiano Di Iorio
Fourth Official: Matteo Marchetti
VAR: Gianluca Aureliano and Giacomo Paganesi
