Pepe Reina is on the bench for Serie A leaders Napoli against Chievo, but Dries Mertens and Mario Rui are in the starting XI.
It kicks off at 14.00 GMT, follow the build-up and action from all today’s Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.
There were concerns over Reina, who was suffering from back pain, and he is not risked from the start, so Luigi Sepe gets his second Serie A appearance in a Napoli jersey.
Pepe Reina is on the bench for Serie A leaders Napoli against Chievo, but Dries Mertens and Mario Rui are in the starting XI.
It kicks off at 14.00 GMT, follow the build-up and action from all today’s Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.
There were concerns over Reina, who was suffering from back pain, and he is not risked from the start, so Luigi Sepe gets his second Serie A appearance in a Napoli jersey.
The only other one was for 59 minutes against Fiorentina in January 2009.
The Partenopei are still unbeaten and sit top of the table, having won every game except for the stalemate with second-placed Inter.
However, their situation in the Champions League is very different, losing 4-2 to Manchester City on Wednesday to leave them third in their group behind Shakhtar Donetsk.
Above all, the European commitments have proved costly in terms of personnel, because Faouzi Ghoulam ruptured the ACL in his knee during that match and will be out of action for at least three months.
Mertens also picked up a muscular problem against City, but he grits his teeth to take his place in the starting XI.
Considering Arkadiusz Milik is also a long-term absentee with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, there aren’t many other options in attack.
Mario Ruo steps in at left-back, keeping Elseid Hysaj on the right in the absence of Ghoulam, and it’s the ex-Roma man’s first start for Napoli.
He has so far played only three minutes as a substitute against Cagliari in January.
Jorginho and Allan are rested in midfield, especially after the Italo-Brazilian received a surprise call for the Azzurri ahead of next week’s World Cup play-off against Sweden.
Chievo had started the season quite strong, but appear to have lost their way lately with two consecutive 4-1 defeats to Milan and Sampdoria.
It’s a special game for Roberto Inglese, because Napoli bought the striker in August only to leave him on loan for a season, but that plan may well change to bring him to Naples in January after Milik’s setback.
Depaoli is chosen to bolster the midfield with Riccardo Meggiorini on the bench.
Chievo have not beaten Napoli at the Bentegodi since 2012-13, when they triumphed 2-0, losing all four.
Chievo: Sorrentino; Cacciatore, Gamberini, Tomovic, Gobbi; Depaoli, Radovanovic, Hetemaj; Castro; Birsa, Inglese
Napoli: Sepe; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Zielinski, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Mertens, Insigne