Neres targets Lazio return as Napoli's right flank stays bare for a month

The medical staff are working towards Sunday 8 November to get David Neres back. That is Napoli-Lazio at the Maradona, with Gennaro Gattuso in the other dugout. The Brazilian was injured again in Villarreal.

Vergara has returned to group training at Castel Volturno (the training ground), but only for half a session. He is unlikely to get any minutes against Roma. Allegri therefore faces the second of the two tests set by the club, after the 4-3 against Bodø/Glimt, with the treatment room still full. Napoli are ninth with 10 points and Roma are third with 17. That is a seven-point gap after seven matchdays.

The right flank needs rebuilding

The right flank is where it hurts most. Costantino Favasuli suffered a strain with Italy's Under-21s and should be back after the November break, for the home game against Torino on Saturday 21 November.

His injury has already changed the side. It freed up a place on the UEFA squad list, and Giovane came back into it. Since then Giovane has started in Villarreal, in Venice and against Bodø/Glimt.

Alisson Santos is on a similar timeline. He picked up a moderate strain to his left hamstring against Venezia and should be out a week longer than Favasuli. The date circled is Sassuolo-Napoli on Sunday 29 November, against Aquilani's side.

Alessandro Buongiorno is a different case. The centre-back had surgery on his meniscus and is expected back in January. After such a long absence his return will need careful handling, and nobody has any interest in rushing it.

The relapses are the real problem

The return dates are not the main worry. The relapses are. Neres broke down again in Villarreal. Alisson Santos was stopped again in Venice. Politano was only declared fit the day before Bodø/Glimt, and Rrahmani goes into the Roma game fatigued.

When the same players break down twice in a few weeks, questions about fitness work stop being bar-room talk. They become something Allegri's staff have to address in the open. So far, nobody has given an answer.

Without Neres there is also no back-up for Højlund, who has not scored since Saturday 5 September. And this comes just as the club opens the door to letting Lucca go as early as January. The attack has fewer options at exactly the moment it needs them.

When Roma come to the Maradona on Saturday, Allegri will have to make do with whoever is fit. The first of the returns the staff have mapped out will only come after the dugout has already had its verdict.