Serie A Week 29
Napoli - Fiorentina
Stadio San Paolo
While Napoli are merely looking to consolidate their mid-table position, Fiorentina will be travelling to the San Paolo desperate for a win to keep them clear of Milan in the battle for a top-four finish.
The Viola are currently on course to secure a place in next season’s Champions League, with a four-point advantage over Milan in fifth. However, Coach Cesare Prandelli knows it only takes one slip and the pressure will be right back on his team again. While their home form has been excellent recently, they haven’t been quite as impressive on their travels. Despite the win at Juventus, the defeats to Siena in Serie A and Everton in the UEFA Cup shows they are vulnerable away from the Stadio Artemio Franchi. That will make it a real challenge of their maturity in the notoriously difficult San Paolo atmosphere.
However, Fiorentina are counting the cost of their 3-1 win over Genoa on Sunday. The yellow card received by Massimo Gobbi means he will miss this match through suspension, while centre-back Alessandro Gamberini and winger Martin Jorgensen picked up injuries that will reduce them to spectators in Naples. Prandelli is also expected to rest several players during their hectic schedule. Marco Donadel, Franco Semioli and Christian Vieri should take the place of Zdravko Kuzmanovic, Mario Santana and Giampaolo Pazzini.
The only certain absentee from the Napoli ranks is striker Marcelo Zalayeta, whose knee injury has required surgery and he’ll be out of action for the remainder of the Azzurri’s campaign. Emanuele Calaio should continue in his place alongside Ezequiel Lavezzi in attack, although veteran Roberto Sosa is also a candidate. Goalkeeper Gennaro Iezzo and defender Andrea Cupi are back in training after their injuries, but are unlikely to return to the starting XI so soon. In midfield, both Manuele Blasi and Daniele Mannini should return to the line-up after serving their suspensions.
Partenopei boss Edy Reja will be hoping his players can quickly get over their disappointment from the weekend. They conceded a 88th minute goal to lose 1-0 to Juventus on Sunday evening as their nightmare run of fixtures continued. This match is the last of a run that will leave them having faced the entire top four in less than three weeks. Their win over Inter means they already have more from those games than they may have expected, but after drawing a blank in their last two games against Roma and Juventus, the Napoli strikers will hoping to keep the fans happy with at least one Azzurro name on the score sheet at the San Paolo.
Keep an eye on: Emanuele Calaio (Napoli) – After waiting all season from the bench, fate has finally handed Calaio a chance to impress with an extended run in the starting line-up. The Sicilian striker will be eager to earn his place with goals.
