Napoli look to extend their Serie A win streak to eight matches and inch closer to their first Scudetto in 33 years, while Empoli look to end their four-match winless streak.
Empoli FC
After a surprising victory over Inter, Empoli have three draws and one loss. The other Azzurri have been fairly predictable this season. They tend to beat teams near the bottom of the table, draw teams in the middle of the table and lose to teams at the top of the table.
Nevertheless, Empoli have remained in Serie A since returning two seasons ago, largely due to their sound business model. Like Napoli, though perhaps on a smaller scale, Empoli have consistently scounted and developed young talents before selling them for big profits. Those profits are reinvested and the cycle continues.
This year’s crop includes Napoli target Fabiano Parisi, 19-year-old Tommaso Baldanzi and star goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is largely responsible for Empoli overperforming their xGA by seven goals.
SSC Napoli
Napoli are coming off an important away victory in the first leg of their Champions League tie with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Luciano Spalletti may be forced to rotate his squad for his team’s third consecutive away match in the span of nine days. However, he won’t rotate to the same extent he did for Napoli’s Coppa Italia match against Cremonese, for fear of dropping points.
Injuries/Suspensions
Former Napoli player Lorenzo Tonelli continues to recover from a torn ACL suffered against Fiorentina last season. Mattia Destro has missed Empoli’s last 10 matches with a calf injury, while Nicolò Cambiaghi is not expected to play due to a thigh injury. Meanwhile, both Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro and Filippo Bandinelli are suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
For Napoli, Luciano Spalletti will be without Giacomo Raspadori, who continues to recover from a thigh injury. Kim Min-jae remains one yellow card away from a one-match suspension.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Paolo Zanetti:
“Napoli are a great team, singling out one individual would be an understatement. They have a centre forward [Osimhen] who, on his own, has produced the same numbers as our entire team. He and Kvara would scare anyone, but Napoli’s game is effective in all phases, excellent both in defensive as well as attack. They deserve to go far in Europe, in additional to the Championship. For us it is an honour and an incentive to face them.”
Luciano Spalletti:
“This is a difficult match. We have to be good at processing the importance of these matches in our heads and not consider other things…The match against Empoli last year destroyed the work of an entire year, precisely with regard to the to strength and balance, as well as the maturity of the team. That was bad. We could have gone up 3-0 a couple of time, we suffered a lot.”
Previous Meetings
| November 8, 2022 | SSC Napoli | 2-0 | Empoli FC |
| April 24, 2022 | Empoli FC | 3-2 | SSC Napoli |
| December 12, 2021 | SSC Napoli | 0-1 | Empoli FC |
| January 13, 2021 (Coppa Italia) | SSC Napoli | 3-2 | Empoli FC |
| April 3, 2019 | Empoli FC | 2-1 | SSC Napoli |
Match Officials
Head Official: Giovanni Ayroldi
Assistants: Giuseppe Perrotti and Davide Moro
Fourth Official: Giacomo Camplone
VAR: Michael Fabbri and Federico Longo
