Napoli will play their first game in front of a home crowd this season as they welcome Chievo to the Stadio San Paolo on Sunday afternoon in Serie A.
Although Napoli finished 13 places above Chievo last season, there was mixed results when these two sides clashed last term. Napoli secured an initial 4-2 victory in Verona thanks, in part, to a double from captain Marek Hamsik. However, the Flying Donkeys fared better when they travelled to Naples where the home side struggled to secure a 1-1 draw thanks to a late equaliser from Raúl Albiol.
While that result put a major dent in Napoli’s hopes of catching Juventus and Roma, the Partenopei still come into this fixture as favourites. The southern giants have won two and drawn one of their last two games against the Gialloblu at the San Paolo.
Looking towards this season, these sides had contrasting fortunes on the opening day of the new campaign.
Napoli secured a hard fought 2-1 victory away to Genoa. It was hardly the most convincing performance by Rafa Benitez’s men who had to rely on a late strike by new signing Jonathan de Guzman to secure the points.
Chievo, meanwhile, were beaten by a solitary goal at home to Juventus, a score line that frankly flattered the Gialloblu with Max Allegri’s side dominating the game and hitting the woodwork several times.
Chievo’s early season form has hardly been promising and the club could struggle to maintain their top flight status this term. The defeat in Turin came after Chievo were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Serie B side Pescara.
Benitez will have new signing David Lopez available for the game but it is likely the 24-year-old Spaniard will start from the bench. Elsewhere on the pitch, Napoli are not expected to make too many changes to the team which featured against Genoa on the opening day. Faouzi Ghoulam remains out with a fractured arm while Gonzalo Higuain should be fit again after missing Argentina’s friendly against Germany with a minor hamstring injury.
Eugenio Corini only has Ivan Radovanovic missing, although goalkeeper Christian Puggioni will continue to be frozen out of the squad following his refusal to accept a transfer to Genoa over the summer.
Expected Starting XIs
Napoli – Rafael; Maggio, Albiol, Koulibaly, Zuniga; Inler, Jorginho; Insigne, Hamsik, Callejon; Higuain
Chievo – Bardi; Biraghi, Gamberini, Dainelli, Frey; Izco, Hetemaj, Lazarevic; Birsa; Lopez, Paloschi
