Napoli host an inconsistent Udinese side this afternoon before Fiorentina head north for a clash against Scudetto hopes Inter. Later, Milan fly over to Sardinia for a tough battle against strugglers Cagliari.
The match between Napoli and Udinese kicks off at 14.00 UK time at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and Inter’s game against Fiorentina comes a little later at 17.00 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. At 19:45 in the evening Milan face Cagliari at the Unipol Domus in Sardinia.
Luciano Spalletti has to manage three absences for today’s match as Alex Meret, Kevin Malcuit and Andrea Petagna are all unavailable due to injury. Adam Ounas is also in doubt.
Things are a little simpler for Udinese with only Nehuén Pérez sidelined due to an ankle complaint.
Simone Inzaghi will have to do without both Marcelo Brozovic and Stefan de Vrij for this evening’s clash against Fiorentina, with both players expected to return after the international break.
Fiorentina also have two absences, with Sofian Amrabat and Giacomo Bonaventura both ruled out of today’s game.
There’s a long list of injured players for Cagliari ahead of tonight’s match against Milan, although none of the six absences are a surprise.
Simon Kjaer and Tiémoué Bakayoko are both out for the Rossoneri and Sandro Tonali and Brahim Diaz are also in doubt.
Probable line-ups:
Napoli vs. Udinese:
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Anguissa, Lobotka; Politano, Zielinski, Insigne; Osimhen.
Udinese (3-5-2): Silvestri; Becao, Marì, Zeegelaar; Molina, Pereyra, Walace, Arslan, Udogie; Beto, Deulofeu.
Inter vs. Fiorentina:
Inter (3-5-2): Handanovic; D’Ambrosio, Skriniar, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Vidal, Perisic; Dzeko, Lautaro.
Fiorentina (4-3-3): Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenkovic, Igor, Biraghi; Castrovilli, Torreira, Duncan; Ikone, Piatek, Nico Gonzalez.
Cagliari vs. Milan:
Cagliari (3-4-2-1): Cragno; Goldaniga, Lovato, Altare; Bellanova, Deiola, Grassi, Dalbert; Marin, Joao Pedro; Pavoletti.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Bennacer, Kessié; Messias, Brahim Diaz, Leao; Giroud.
It’s only a tough battle through Milan‘s limitations. It should be a walkover but we have a mental block at the moment. Just need a few of the more incisive players with a more selfish approach. Rebic seems to be trying to create more than he used to, whereas I think his strengths are more just doing what’s necessary to put the ball in the net with either foot.
There’s hardly any games in Serie A which is a walkover (Inter–Salernitana). These relegation battling teams fight tooth and nail in this part of the season. Cagliari have been in good form. They drew with Napoli a couple of weeks ago, a game which they frankly should’ve won.