Napoli – Granada: Predicted Line-ups & Mertens’ Return

Serie A side Napoli is hoping to overturn a first-leg defeat to Granada tonight. Their squad will likely include a return for Belgium maestro Dries Mertens, as well as a number of players from the youth squad.

Gennaro Gattuso’s players did not put in the most convincing of performances in the first leg of this Europa League draw. The Italians lost 2-0. The defeat quickly lead to much of the confidence accumulated following the team’s victory over Juventus to be lost.

Napoli is still dealing with a number of injury issues. This will, once again, make Gattuso’s job harder, as he seeks to improvise his tactics and squad selection.

The one silver lining seems to be the return of Dries Mertens, one of Napoli’s best players in recent years. The Belgium midfielder has been dealing with medical issues related to his ankles since December of last year.

It also looks likely that six Primavera players will be included in the squad. Among the youth players joining the team are tight-back Davide Costanzo and Giuseppe D’Agostino, 18 and 17 respectively.

The predicted line-ups for the Napoli vs. Granada game are:

Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Bakayoko, Fabian, Zielinsky; Politano, Insigne, Elmas

Granada (4-2-3-1): Silva; Foulquier, Duarte, Sanchez, Neva; Herrera, Gonalons; Kenedy, Montoro, Machis; Molina