Napoli will be careful not to drop their guard after an important win to open the 2022/23 Champions League campaign, while Spezia look to steady the ship after a turbulent week.
SSC Napoli
After a disappointing draw to Lecce at home, Napoli responded with impressive victories over Lazio and Liverpool. The Partenopei come into this match tied with Milan for second in the table, two points back of league leaders Atalanta.
However, Luciano Spalletti’s men will not take this fixture lightly. The Napoli coach will be sure to remind his players of the 0-1 defeat to Spezia at the Maradona last season – one of many disappointing home results last season.
With a busy fixture list, Spalletti will likely rotate his squad, though perhaps less than he did in the draw against Lecce. With Victor Osimhen sidelined for approximately three weeks, Spalletti will have no choice but to use a different striker.
Spezia Calcio
It’s been a turbulent start to the season for Spezia. The Aquilotti are winless in their last four, after opening the season with a 1-0 victory over Empoli. Earlier in the week, Spezia announced they had parted ways with Chief Football Operations Officer Riccardo Pecini, a decision that was taken by mutual agreement between the parties.
Spezia’s away schedule has not been favourable, losing their first two away matches to Inter and Juventus, respectively. After Napoli, Spezia’s next away match is against Lazio. Meanwhile, the Aquilotti have earned decent results at home, with a win over Empoli and draws to Sassuolo and Bologna.
Spezia coach Luca Gotti, who was hired by Pecini, indicated in his pre-match conference that he will change something against Napoli. Both goals Spezia conceded against Bologna resulted from Marko Arnautović getting behind Spezia’s high line. After seeing Napoli conquer Liverpool’s high line mid-week, this could well be what changes.
Injuries/Suspensions
For Napoli, Diego Demme continues to do therapy and personalized work in the field as he recovers from a foot injury. Meanwhile, Victor Osimhen will miss this match with a thigh strain suffered against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Spezia have numerous injuries on the right side. Right backs Kelvin Amian and Salva Ferrer are out, the former with an abdominal issue while the latter recovers from arthroscopic surgery. Meanwhile, right winger Daniele Verde has only made two appearances this season due to an unknown injury. Spezia will also be without Daniel Maldini, who continues to suffer from muscle fatigue.
Probable Formations
Manager’s Comments
Luciano Spalletti:
“I respect [Gotti] a lot as a person and I know how he prepares for matches. I know what his football is and we have already seen it in previous meetings. Analyzing their matches this season, we see that he is good at creating this density as a reference on the man and starting strong on the counterattack with men in the range that put you in difficulty. I don’t know what he will do against us but we must know that what happened to us last year can happen again if we are not perfect and good. We must not give even a single opportunity, we must always have the same quality and intensity on the pitch.”
Luca Gotti:
“We will change something because Napoli forces us to. They are one of the few teams that manages to combine ball possession and move the ball in the strait, until the conditions are created for the attack at depth with quick attackers, which we paid for in the last game. We will have to be careful, concede as little as possible and we will have to change something.”
Previous Meetings
| 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 |
| January 6, 2021 | Spezia Calcio | 1-2 | SSC Napoli |
Match Officials
Head Official: Alberto Santoro
Assistants: Damiano Margani and Marco D’Ascanio
Fourth Official: Manuel Volpi
VAR: Paolo Valeri and Emanuele Prenna
