Napoli Travel To Florence Missing Eight Players

Good evening, Napoli supporters, this is Napoli Tonight for Saturday 19 September.

Can a side missing eight players really fight for the title? That's the claim from Fiorentina head coach Paolo Vanoli, two days out from Sunday's game at the Franchi. He called Napoli's squad strong enough to fight for the title, praised Kevin De Bruyne as a player he's "in love with," and flagged Rasmus Højlund as the fastest striker in Serie A in open play.

It's a generous read of a side that sits tenth in Serie A on six points, with two wins and two defeats from four games. Only Højlund has scored more than once, and Lucca is still goalless since his summer move. Praising the opponent costs Vanoli nothing, and it takes the pressure off his own players. We'd read it as team talk, not scouting report.

The team news backs up the sceptical view. Eight players are out for Florence: Meret, Buongiorno, Marianucci, McTominay, Alisson Santos and Giovane are already sidelined, and this week added two more. Leonardo Spinazzola missed training with a strain in his right hamstring, leaving Mathías Olivera as the only option at left-back. André-Frank Anguissa is back on the grass but only in an individual programme, still managing an adductor strain, and remains a serious doubt.

There is a plan to empty that treatment room. Serie A pauses after Florence, and Napoli don't play again until Frosinone visit the Maradona on 10 October. Allegri expects Meret and Marianucci back for that game, with Scott McTominay's return from heart surgery close behind — he's due back at Castel Volturno on Monday.

One piece of good defensive news: Napoli turned down concrete Premier League interest in Rafa Marín in August. Having gone from out-of-favour to first-choice alongside Amir Rrahmani in a matter of weeks, he's now seen inside the club as one half of the central pairing for years to come.

Kick-off at the Franchi is twelve thirty CET tomorrow, eleven thirty in the UK, six thirty on the East Coast. Napoli need a result to bring some order to an uneven start, and they'll have to find it with the thinnest squad of the season so far.

That's Napoli Tonight for tonight. Every story, in full, at arenarete dot com slash napoli slash e n. Back tomorrow evening at eight o'clock CET.