Napoli face Vanoli's Fiorentina after their first win of the season

Napoli travel to the Franchi on Sunday to face a Fiorentina side sitting 15th in Serie A, with 3 points from four games and a goal difference of 5 scored, 11 conceded.

Since arriving, Vanoli has focused on restoring balance. In the game that marked the turnaround, won from behind, he set up a classic 4-2-3-1: Atta in support of Pellegrino, wide wingers stretching the pitch, Fagioli directing play and Ndour's physicality screening the defence, led by Ranieri. For the trip against Napoli, the likely lineup points instead to a 4-3-3, with De Gea in goal and Ranieri still the central figure at the back for the viola.

The name most associated with the change of direction is Mastantuono. He is the player who has benefited most from the coaching change, and it was his goal that started the comeback on the night of Fiorentina's first league win of the season — a match they were losing before finishing 4-goals-to-something. Pellegrino also scored in that game, in the second half. In the following Coppa Italia (Italy's cup competition) tie against Pisa, it was Gonçalves, introduced from the bench as an attacking midfielder, who struck early with a shot from distance.

A defence still finding its feet

The fragilities are mostly at the back: 11 goals conceded in four league games point to a defence struggling to keep a clean sheet, managing it only in the Coppa Italia win over Pisa. Dragusin's condition is one to watch — he went off early in that game with muscle fatigue — while Vanoli is hoping to have Atta back after a period of individualised training that kept him out of the cup tie. This is still a squad in the middle of a rebuild, searching for a playing identity the new head coach has not yet had time to complete.

On Sunday Napoli arrive at the Franchi against a Fiorentina side still getting to know itself under its new coach, in the year the viola celebrate a century of history. For us, that changes nothing in substance: after a start to the league campaign that has not satisfied us, this remains a game to approach with the same seriousness as any other, with no discount for someone else's league position and no alibi for our own struggles.