Napoli face Monza on Wednesday 28 October needing three points

Four days after the 3-3 draw with Roma, Napoli travel to the U-Power Stadium to meet a Monza side on 7 points. Napoli have 11 and Roma are already seven clear.

by Gennaro SanninoSaturday 24 October, 23:21 CET· 1 hour ago

Monza-Napoli, mercoledì alle 20:45: dopo il 3-3 con la Roma servono i tre punti, non le attenuanti — Grafica Arena Napoli

Napoli play at Monza on Wednesday 28 October, kick-off 20:45 CET (19:45 UK, 14:45 ET), in the ninth round of Serie A. They arrive with the 3-3 against Roma still stinging. Napoli led 2-0, then 3-2, before Balerdi equalised in the 89th minute at the Maradona.

The table leaves little room for comfort. Napoli have 11 points from 8 games, ninth place, with three wins, two draws and three defeats. Leaders Lazio have 22. Roma, who pulled level on Saturday, are third on 18. Anyone who saw the draw as a platform to build on has to reckon with those numbers: Napoli need wins, and quickly.

Allegri has a contract until 30 June 2029 and the target of a top-four finish. Fourth place is currently Como, on 17.

Monza are not the easy opponent their 7 points suggest. They beat Cagliari 4-0, then lost 3-2 at Torino in their last away game. They score and they concede, which is exactly why they matter to Napoli. Against Roma, Napoli showed they can build a lead and cannot protect it. Allegri admitted as much after the game: the team is being pegged back too often. The uncomfortable question at Monza is whether the squad has truly absorbed that.

The team selection has plenty of open questions. A decision on Badiashile is expected within 48 hours. Neres and Alisson Santos remain unavailable. Vergara trained fully with the group for the first time since the injury he picked up on international duty against Turkey, and whether he makes the squad is uncertain.

Then there is the matter of how Allegri follows through on his promise of a more attacking Napoli. He made it after the 3-3, on the day he said he was furious about being sent off from the bench.

The record against Monza

Napoli's memories of playing there are good. They won 4-2 in Brianza on 7 April 2024. In 2023/24 the return fixture at the Maradona finished 0-0. On 14 May 2023 Monza won 2-0 at home, after Napoli had won the first meeting 4-0. Four games, none of them straightforward, and none of them tells us anything about the state of mind Napoli will bring. That will be the one we saw against Roma.

The match is on DAZN and Sky, who share the rights, with streaming on the DAZN app or Sky Go, and on NOW with the Pass Sport. The schedule then offers no respite: Juventus-Napoli on 1 November, and Porto-Napoli in the Champions League on 4 November at 21:00 CET. The fans will not accept more dropped points this time.