Preview and Probable Line-ups for Napoli – Benevento
Napoli finds itself in desperate need of a victory against Pippo Inzaghi’s side Benevento ahead of the two teams’ clash in today’s Round 24 Serie A clash.
Manager Gennaro Gattuso is once again forced to dramatically alter the line-up of his team from one match to the other. With Napoli’s failure to secure Europa League qualification still fresh in the minds of supporters and board members, Napoli seems forced to secure a victory against The Stregoni.
There seems to be good news though in terms of the full return of one Napoli’s most influential players, Dries Mertens. The Belgium maestro recently receovered from issues with his ankles. He entered as a substitute in the match against Granada this week, and is expected to start up front from the very first minute on Sunday.
Throughout the season, Benevento has proven to be a resilient side. Their work ethic and Pippo Inzaghi’s tactics helped the team earn a 0-0 draw against AS Roma last week, in spite of playing with a man down for more than half an hour.
The probable line-ups for Napoli vs. Benevento are as follows:
Napoli (4-2-3-1): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Rui; Bakayoko, Ruiz, Elmas; Zielinski; Politano, Insigne
Benevento (4-3-2-1): Montipo; Depaoli, Tuia, Caldirola, Barba; Hetemaj, Schiattarella, Viola; Ionita, Caprari; Lapadula
Gennaro Gattuso’s future at Napoli has long been debated in the press in recent weeks. In spite of this, club representatives are still publicly supporting the manager. Napoli’s long list of injuries will surely have an effect on the match with players like Victor Osimhen, Kostas Manolas, Elseid Hysaj, Hirving Lozano, Andrea Petagna, Diego Demme, pr David Ospina, all out injured.