Napoli-Fiorentina Match Preview

Napoli seek their third consecutive victory as they host Fiorentina at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Meanwhile, the visitors hope for a positive result having to travel only two days after their UEFA Conference League match on Thursday.

SSC Napoli

Napoli look to carry positive momentum into the international break. After dropping points in three consecutive league matches – a come-from behind defeat to Lazio, a 2-2 draw against Genoa and a scoreless draw against Bologna – the Azzurri beat Udinese and Lecce by a combined score of 8-1.

The Partenopei will feel they deserved at least a point from Tuesday’s Champions League match against Real Mardid at the Maradona. The home side went toe-to-toe with the Spanish giants or would have taken a point, if not all three, had it not been for a costly mistake and an unfortunate bounce. Nevertheless, the performance served as confirmation that results against Lecce and Udinese were not merely a consequence of playing against weaker opposition.

Over the last few rounds, Garcia has adjusted his tactics to find a compromise between his personal philosophy of playing direct and the style of play instilled by Luciano Spalletti last season. Napoli are relying less on the long ball and more on building up with short, quick passes. Meanwhile, in the defensive phase, the Azzurri are playing more compact. While improvements can still be made, particularly defending the middle of the park, the play of young central defenders Leo  Østigård and Natan seems to have pushed Napoli in the right direction.

ACF Fiorentina

Fiorentina’s results in the first quarter of the season have been all over the map, from a 4-2 thumping of newly promoted Genoa to a 4-0 destruction at the hands of Scudetto-favourites Inter. La Viola have two draws, to Lecce and Frosinone, after scoring first in both matches. 

However, the sporadic performances are not unexplainable. Through Fiorentina finished 8th in the table last season, Juventus’ expulsion from European cup competitions allowed La Viola entrance to the UEFA Conference League qualification round. With the additional two matches – a two-legged tie against Rapid Vienna, which Fiorentina won 2-1 on aggregate- Vincenzo Italiano’s side has played twice a week since the start of the season. That has forced the ex-Spezia coach to rotate his squad heavily. 

All the while, Italiano has been trying to work out his best XI after significant turnover in the summer. Lucas Beltran was purchased from River Plate after Arthur Cabral’s big-money transfer to Benfica. Meanwhile, M’bala Nzola was acquired from Spezia to replace Luka Jovic, who joined Milan on a Bosman. However, Fiorentina have had to rely on Nico Gonzalez for goals as the new strikers have struggled to replace the production of Cabral.

While Arthur Melo has been a positive acquisition from Juventus, the departure of Sofyan Amrabat on loan to Manchester United weakened Fiorentina’s midfield, both in terms of quality and physicality. Maxime Lopez was acquired to replace Youssef Maleh, but the former Napoli target is too similar to Arthur.

Meanwhile, Fiorentina have replaced both of their fullbacks. Highly-rated left-back Fabiano Parisi was purchased to replace Aleksa Tersic on the left flank. Michael Kayode was promoted from the Primavera to replace Lorenzo Venuti as the back to Dodô on the right flank.

Injuries/Suspensions

Pierluigi Gollini remains sidelined with a hand injury, while Juan Jesus continues to recover from a thigh muscle injury. Though Amir Rrahmani completed part of the group training sessions on Friday and Saturday, the Kosovo international, who was not called up by his country for the upcoming international break, was unable to recover ahead of Sunday’s match.

Fiorentina will be without four players. Gaetano Castrovilli had keyhole surgery in his knee after failing a medical with Bournemouth in the summer, ahead of what would have a €12 million transfer to the English club. Right back Dodô also required surgery after rupturing his ACL in Fiorentina’s 2-0 victory over Udinese. Yerry Mina has yet to feature since joining Fiorentina from Everton. For fitness reasons, the central defender did not play prior to the September international break, when he tore a thigh muscle in Colombia’s 1-0 victory over Venezuela. Finally, the Igor back Niccolò Pierozzi will miss the match due to an abdominal muscle injury.