Napoli, Antonio Conte anxious: four starters unavailable
Napoli hunting for the Scudetto, but the smaller number of commitments compared to rival Inter is likely to become a less decisive factor in view of the numerous absences that Antonio Conte must manage. And in fact on Monday night against Empoli’several choices for the Neapolitan lineup will be constrained not only by injuries, but also by disqualifications.
The Giudice Sportivo has in fact stopped Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Frank Anguissa, who moreover are not the only crucial players in his project that Conte will have to give up. Already against Bologna, Alex Meret, Alessandro Buongiorno and Leonardo Spinazzola were missing, and the feeling is that only the goalkeeper may return to Napoli’s roster.
If in fact Spinazzola remains in doubt, and only over the weekend will it become clear whether he can be available against Empoli,
Buongiorno is definitely on Napoli’s list of absentees against the Tuscans. His injury, a “tendinopathy of the long adductor muscle in his right thigh” in fact, makes him unavailable for at least a couple of weeks.
Conte already seems to have clear ideas, with Mazzocchi on the field in place of Spinazzola and Juan Jesus in the center of defense in the box otherwise occupied by Buongiorno. On the other lane there is room for Olivera, while Anguissa’s replacement should be Gilmour. Solutions all but fallback for Napoli, which, however, will have few alternatives on the bench. And, as its coach says, “With everyone available we can really bother until the end, otherwise a little something on the road we can leave it”.
