Napoli – Salernitana, squad for the 20th matchday
Napoli and Salernitana will face each other at 15pm in a match full of tension.
Both teams are not going through a good moment. Napoli can't even keep themselves in the Champions League zone, while Salernitana sees their stay in Serie A becoming increasingly distant.
Below are the Neapolitan squad called up for the match against Salernitana.
Napoli call-up list
Mazzarri, who should focus on 4-3-3, has called up the following players:
Goalkeepers
- Cibtubu
- Gollini
- Written
Defenders
- D'Avino
- By Lorenzo
- Jesus
- Mario Rui
- Ostigard
- Rrahmani
- Zanoli
Midfielders
Forwards
- kvaratskhelia
- politan
- Breakers
- Simeon
- Zerbin
What to expect and the premises of Naples – Salernitana
The next Serie A match between Napoli and Salernitana is full of meaning in a context of difficulty for both teams.
Napoli, the reigning champion, is going through a very critical period, with a series of negative results that includes four consecutive competitive matches without wins or goals. The latest 3-0 defeat against Torino highlighted the team's difficulties, aggravated by the red card received by new signing Pasquale Mazzocchi.
Napoli's position is further complicated by 20 points behind leaders Inter and by the rumors of a possible change on the bench, with president Aurelio De Laurentiis who seems interested in bringing Antonio Conte to lead the team. Walter Mazzarri, currently in command, is fighting to reverse the trend, with only two wins in the last ten home games.
On the other side, Salernitana is in last place in Serie A, despite the signs of improvement shown before the latest 2-1 defeat against Juventus. Filippo Inzaghi's team suffered a serious blow with the expulsion of Giulio Maggiore, despite him having given the team the lead.
Salernitana achieved its first away win of this season by beating Verona 1-0, but has a negative record in head-to-head matches against Napoli, having avoided defeat just once in their last five meetings.
The players to keep an eye on will be James Breakers of Napoli, who scored three of his four goals of the season after the hour mark, and Loum Tchaouna of Salernitana, who contributed to both of his team's last goals in the championship.
A significant statistic is that Salernitana have conceded the most goals after the 76th minute in this championship, a sign of a late-game vulnerability that could be exploited by Napoli to try to return to winning ways.
Naples – Salernitana looks like a match between two teams desperately trying to reverse their respective negative trends. Napoli urgently needs to find the way to goals and victories again to boost morale and reduce the gap in the standings, while Salernitana hopes to continue to show signs of improvement and move away from last place. It will be interesting to see how the two teams deal with this crucial match.