Napoli vs Fiorentina Preview: Team News & Prediction
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Italian champions Napoli are in a tricky spot and could really do with a victory as they take on Fiorentina at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples this weekend.
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Napoli preview: Napoli need a win
Napoli begin this weekend’s round of fixtures only just sitting inside the top four and the UEFA Champions League spots in Serie A after a woeful recent run of form of just one win in their last seven matches across all competitions.
After their 3-0 trouncing at the hands of Juventus in Turin last week, the Neapolitans were then knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in midweek due to a 3-2 loss to Chelsea down in Naples on Wednesday night.
Fiorentina preview: Struggling Fiorentina
After a woeful start to the season, it finally seemed as though Fiorentina were truly turning a corner but I Viola have instead sunk back into the bottom three and the relegation places ahead of this match day.
That is because their four-match unbeaten run of form was ended by a shock 2-1 loss at home to Cagliari last weekend, and then that was backed up by losing 3-1 at home to Como in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia in midweek.
Napoli team news: Lukaku returns
Romelu Lukaku returned to full fitness in midweek but Napoli still have an abundance of key first-team injuries, such as goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic and midfield trio Billy Gilmour, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Kevin De Bruyne.
Predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Juan; Spinazzola, Lobotka, McTominay, Olivera; Vergara, Elmas; Hojlund
Unavailable: Milinkovic-Savic (Injured), Rrahmani (Injured), Gilmour (Injured), Anguissa (Injured), De Bruyne (Injured), Politano (Injured), Neres (Injured)
Questionable: Mazzocchi (Injured)
Fiorentina team news: A few issues
Fiorentina head to Naples with a few injury issues for this one as Rolando Mandragora is a doubt for the visitors alongside Italy international striker Moise Kean.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): David de Gea; Pongracic, Comuzzo, Ranieri, Gosens; Fabbian, Fagioli, Ndour; Solomon, Gudmundsson, Harrison
Unavailable: Lamptey (Injured), Parisi (Injured)
Questionable: Mandragora (Injured), Dodo (Injured), Piccoli (Injured), Kean (Injured),
Napoli vs Fiorentina prediction
Napoli need a performance and a result. Antonio Conte isn’t necessarily under pressure from the outside but the possibility of him resigning once again must now be quite high once again. Fiorentina will be expected to eventually pull themselves away from danger, albeit the complications of UEFA Europa Conference League knockout football in the spring could disrupt them. With both sides nervy and in need of a win, a low-scoring encounter appears inevitable for this one down in the south of Italy.
Napoli vs Fiorentina tip: Under 2.5 goals
