Napoli rely on Arkadiusz Milik rather than Dries Mertens to keep up with Juventus ahead of their Turin trip, but Udinese are in free-fall.
It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
Napoli rely on Arkadiusz Milik rather than Dries Mertens to keep up with Juventus ahead of their Turin trip, but Udinese are in free-fall.
It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The Partenopei are fast losing sight of the Scudetto, as a draw with Milan saw them slip six points adrift of leaders Juventus.
Their showdown in Turin is this weekend, so in order for it to still mean anything in the wider scheme, Maurizio Sarri’s men simply have to win here first.
Kalidou Koulibaly sits out a ban, but Mario Rui returns from his suspension to bolster the defence.
Dries Mertens is rested, partly because he is only one yellow card away from a ban that would rule him out of the Juve trip, giving Milik his first start since the second devastating knee injury in September.
Udinese are desperate at this stage, having lost a club record nine consecutive Serie A games and with reports Coach Massimo Oddo will be sacked to make way for Andrea Stramaccioni if he loses tonight.
Yet Oddo is taking a different approach, resting players ahead of what he sees as the more winnable relegation dogfight with Crotone this weekend.
He also has to do without suspended Emil Hallfredsson, injured Kevin Lasagna, Valon Behrami and Gabriele Angella.
The Friulani’s last victory in Naples was April 2011, followed by one point from six visits.
Oddo can become only the third Coach in Serie A history to lose at least 10 consecutive matches in charge of the same team after Mario Varglien for Triestina in 1946-47 and Mauro Sandreani for Padova in 1995-96, both of whom lost 11.
Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Tonelli, Mario Rui; Zielinski, Diawara, Hamsik; Callejon, Milik, Insigne
Udinese: Bizzarri; Nuytinck, Danilo, Samir; Zampano, Barak, Balic, Ingelsson, Pezzella; Jankto, Perica
Ref: Calvarese