Napoli could be without seven players for Bologna

Muscle injuries, a knee ligament tear for Marianucci and heart surgery for McTominay leave Allegri's squad stretched thin ahead of Sunday's game against Bologna at the Maradona. There's also a puzzle over where to fit Vergara into the side.

by Gennaro SanninoThursday 10 September, 07:12 CET· 1 hour ago

Allenatore gesticola con le mani parlando — Foto: SSC Napoli (canale ufficiale)

Napoli haven't recovered from the 0-1 defeat to Arsenal, and already the injury list is growing. Ahead of Bologna, Sunday 13 September at 18:00 CET at the Maradona, Massimiliano Allegri risks being without seven players — a list that lengthens game by game and shows just how thin the available squad is right now.

Alex Meret went off at half-time against Arsenal with a problem in his left thigh; his availability for Bologna is in doubt. Worse still is the news on Alisson Santos, forced off in the second half of the same game with a muscle tear. By Allegri's own account, he won't be back soon.

At the back, things were already tight before Arsenal. Alessandro Buongiorno won't return before the end of October, and Luca Marianucci is out with a high-grade tear to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. For three league games running, the same centre-back pairing has started every time — Rrahmani and Marín — because there simply is no alternative.

In midfield, André-Frank Anguissa missed the Arsenal game with an adductor problem picked up at the last minute; his condition will be monitored, and a cautious return only after the international break isn't ruled out. The same post-break window is pencilled in for Giovane, who had surgery on 3 September for an inguinal hernia. Scott McTominay, who had heart ablation surgery on Wednesday 9 September at Spire Manchester Hospital, will resume training in around two weeks, with his return to playing fixed for late October.

David Neres completes the picture — technically available, but still short of his best condition. Seven players out, an eighth in doubt: for a squad that closed the summer window with a net spend of -€47.5m and not a single reinforcement arriving, every absence counts double.

The Vergara puzzle

The empty slots also create a positional problem for Antonio Vergara, fresh off his first call-up to the Italy squad. If Allegri goes back to a 4-3-3, the former Reggiana midfielder could be shifted to the left of the front three, with Alisson Santos out and Noa Lang carrying his own problems, including disciplinary ones; a role as a central midfielder isn't ruled out either. In a 4-2-3-1, his natural spot would be just behind the centre-forward — the position where Vergara is at his best.

Napoli go into the game 12th in the table with 3 points from 3 games, on a run of three straight defeats counting the Champions League opener. Bologna arrive at the Maradona without Domenico Tedesco, banned for two matches. Sunday will be the first real test of how far this thinned-out squad can stretch without a single reinforcement signed over the summer.