Frosinone visit the Maradona as Napoli sit ninth after five games

Napoli come out of the international break with their most uncomfortable record in years: ninth place, seven points from five games, and a draw at Fiorentina that raised more questions than it answered. A real split has opened up around head coach Allegri, with some defending him fiercely and others already calling for his sacking — in the club's centenary season. Frustration is also growing over how press conferences and communication are being handled: not details, but the climate this squad is walking into for the next game.

The midfield crisis

The break has not solved everything. Anguissa is out with a muscle injury to his right adductor and did not appear in training reports from Friday 25 September; his return against Frosinone is still in doubt. Scott McTominay's case is different: he had a cardiac ablation on 9 September and was back at Castel Volturno (the training ground) on 21 September. Allegri hopes to have him back during the week of 28 September, and if that timeline holds he could be available for this game. In the background sit Beukema, still on zero minutes after five rounds, and Badiashile, who has played just ten: a squad that has given less, these past weeks, than it was built to give.

Our published prediction reads 37%-27%-36% — a razor-thin spread that captures the mood around this team right now. It is an honest reading, not a foregone conclusion: a Napoli side for whom victory is not clearly the most likely outcome is not the Napoli the fanbase expected at the start of the season, the one that considers the Champions League its natural habitat.

What's needed now isn't a speech about perspective — it's a home win over a team below them in the table. Beating Bologna and drawing at Fiorentina are two results in a row, but that's a data point, not a verdict. Frosinone at the Maradona is the kind of game Naples does not forgive if it goes wrong, however worn down the squad arrives after weeks of arguments over formation, personnel and the head coach.