The Champions League and relegation battles cross paths, as Napoli look to Victor Osimhen and Hirving Lozano against Radja Nainggolan’s Cagliari.
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT).
The Champions League and relegation battles cross paths, as Napoli look to Victor Osimhen and Hirving Lozano against Radja Nainggolan’s Cagliari.
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona at 14.00 UK time (13.00 GMT).
There is plenty of motivation all round here, as Napoli must win to retain third place or even potentially go second, while the Sardinians are in the drop zone with Benevento and Torino.
David Ospina and Faouzi Ghoulam are still out of action, while Gennaro Gattuso continues to rotate the squad, particularly upfront.
It’s Osimhen’s turn with Chucky Lozano, Lorenzo Insigne and Piotr Zielinski, sending Dries Mertens and Matteo Politano to the bench.
Cagliari have Razvan Marin suspended, but crucially Nainggolan returns after he sat out the win over Roma last week.
Marko Rog is a long-term absentee and Pedro Pereira still has COVID, but goalkeeper Alessio Cragno has finally recovered after several weeks with the virus he contracted while on international duty with Italy.
Joao Pedro is on a yellow card, so he is initially rested ahead of next week’s relegation showdown with Benevento.
It means former Napoli striker Leonardo Pavoletti leads a slightly more defensive 4-5-1 formation.
Napoli: Meret; Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly, Hysaj; Fabian Ruiz, Demme; Lozano, Zielinski, Insigne; Osimhen
Cagliari: Cragno; Ceppitelli, Godin, Carboni; Nandez, Duncan, Deiola, Lykogiannis; Nainggolan, Zappa; Pavoletti
Ref: Fabbri