Napoli once more shun squad rotation and keep faith with their stars against fourth-placed surprise package of the season Atalanta.

It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 17.00 GMT, follow the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The Partenopei are in the thick of the most important period of the campaign, as they face Juventus on Tuesday in the Coppa Italia semi-final, then take on Roma and Champions League opponents Real Madrid.

Napoli once more shun squad rotation and keep faith with their stars against fourth-placed surprise package of the season Atalanta.

It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 17.00 GMT, follow the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The Partenopei are in the thick of the most important period of the campaign, as they face Juventus on Tuesday in the Coppa Italia semi-final, then take on Roma and Champions League opponents Real Madrid.

With this in mind, Maurizio Sarri was expected to make some changes to the line-up.

Leonardo Pavoletti was meant to get a rare start, allowing Lorenzo Insigne to rest and moving Dries Mertens back to his old wide left role.

Instead, it’s the usual front three for Sarri, while only Kalidou Koulibaly is given time off – that’s because he is one yellow card away from suspension with Roma coming up next weekend.

Allan and Lorenzo Tonelli are injured, so Nikola Maksimovic starts in defence.

Atalanta are the surprise package of the season so far, sitting pretty in joint fourth place on level points with Inter.

Alejandro ‘Papu’ Gomez and Andrea Petagna lead the attack with support from Manchester United, Juventus and Roma transfer target Franck Kessie.

Midfielder Andrea Conti is carrying a knock, but is fit to start anyway.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s men already beat Napoli once this season with Petagna on target in Bergamo.

Atalanta have conquered the San Paolo just once in their last 13 competitive visits, 3-1 in April 2012, along with five draws and seven defeats.

In seven of their last 11 encounters, both teams were on target.

Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Maksimovic, Albiol, Ghoulam; Zielinski, Diawara, Hamsik; Callejon, Mertens, Insigne

Napoli bench: Sepe, Rafael, Strinic, Giaccherini, Jorginho, Maggio, Chiriches, Koulibaly, Rog, Pavoletti, Milik

Atalanta: Berisha; Masiello, Caldara, Toloi; Conti, Freuler, Kessie, Spinazzola; Kurtic; Gomez, Petagna

Atalanta bench: To follow

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *