Napoli play host to Cagliari on Sunday afternoon in Serie A at the Stadio San Paolo, as they look to continue their eight game unbeaten league run.
The two sides are already separated by 11 points after 11 games have been played, with the home side sitting in third compared to the away outfit’s 15th place in the Serie A standings.
Rafael Benitez’s side claimed an excellent three points before the international break disrupted proceedings, through a tough victory in Florence against Fiorentina.
Previous to that, and beyond a Europa League victory against Young Boys, came the 2-0 beating of top-three rival Roma. Striker Gonzalo Higuain has been weighing in as expected with goals, netting six times in Napoli’s last four league games.
Cagliari have only lost once in their last five matches, but that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story. Just one win, a 4-0 demolition of newly-promoted Empoli, has been claimed since the end of September. Cagliari coach Zdenek Zeman is famed for his all-out attacking approach, and the Rossoblu have scored in seven of their last eight games, which presents a risk to the favourites Napoli.
Still yet to concede a goal in the month of November, Napoli will be optimistic of their chances of keeping an entertaining Cagliari side at bay. However, while home coach Benitez is slightly more nurtured in a defensive sense than his tactical counterpart, his similar attacking tendencies could set this clash up to be one which freely sees goals.
The last meeting between the pair resulted in a 3-0 Napoli win, with departed duo Blerim Dzemaili and Goran Pandev both scoring, while injured forward Dries Mertens bagged the other.
In regard to injury concerns, Napoli are dealing with four definite absentees. Defender Camilo Zuniga is ruled out, while attacking trio Michu, Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne are all unavailable. Insigne is not expected to be seen for at least another five months after suffering a cruciate ligament injury. In addition to this, midfielder Jorginho is serving a suspension due to his collection of yellow cards.
Anchor man Sebastian Eriksson is still out for Cagliari, with the new year being set as a realistic return date for the player. Cagliari’s injury concerns are markedly better than last month, but club captain Daniele Conti is banned for this fixture after picking up too many yellow cards.
The home team have a midweek Europa League fixture to turn their attention to, and could result in a couple of players being rested, especially after an international break which saw a good number of their players used in midweek national fixtures. Cagliari don’t have this same issue to consider, but whether that can act as an incentive will be seen during this fixture which promises a lot on the attacking front.
Expected Starting XIs
Napoli: Rafael; Maggio, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Inler, Lopez; Callejon, Hamsik, De Guzman; Higuain
Cagliari: Cragno; Balzano, Ceppitelli, Rossettini, Avelar; Pedro, Dossena, Ekdal; Farias, Sau, Cossu
