The season of reigning Italian champions Napoli has not started under the best of circumstances. The Azzurri, weighed down by their workload, had to surrender to a lively Arezzo (2-0) – a club playing in Serie C – in their first friendly of the season last Tuesday. Losing is never pleasant, especially when you have a coach like Antonio Conte on the bench, who, as we all know, does not “contemplate” defeat, but it would be a mistake to worry too much about a test match at the end of July. The Salento-born coach changed many players between the first and second halves, with only Anguissa remaining on the pitch for more than 45 minutes.
In the first half, Conte fielded most of the new arrivals, from Lucca to De Bruyne, including Lang—the former PSV Eindhoven player who caused the penalty that gave Arezzo the lead—and Marianucci.
A Napoli side that still needs to take shape
Things improved in the second half with the introduction of Dutch defender Beukema, who has just arrived from Bologna, and David Neres, who was one of the most dangerous players on the pitch. In short, Napoli still needs to find its form, but on paper it looks much stronger than last year. After all, the Neapolitan club is currently the undisputed queen of a transfer market that should have more notable moves in store, especially in terms of wingers (Ndoye, Chiesa?).
Conte is certainly expecting something different in the second friendly against Catanzaro: unlike Arezzo, the Giallorossi are now a formidable force in Serie B and have reached the playoffs in the last two seasons, making it to the semifinals.
Alberto Aquilani is on the bench this year, looking to redeem himself after his less than thrilling experience with Pisa: the first two signings are Rispoli and Di Chiara, but there have also been some important departures, such as that of defender Scognamillo.
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Prediction
Conte is expecting a reaction from his team after their unexpected defeat against Arezzo: against Catanzaro, the first victory will come, but we believe that the Giallorossi will manage to score at least one goal. Therefore, we predict at least three goals in total.
Probable line-ups for Napoli-Catanzaro
NAPOLI (4-4-2): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Olivera, Spinazzola; Politano, Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka, McTominay; Lukaku, Raspadori.
CATANZARO (3-5-2): Pigliacelli; Brighenti, Scognamillo, Bonini; Cassandro, Pontisso, Petriccione, Pontisso, Quagliata; Iemmello, Biasci.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1