Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli traveled to Amsterdam with a good feeling. His team tops both Serie A and its Champions League group. However, Spalletti will change his team in two or three places, he reported on Monday at the press conference. He did not mention names and numbers yet, but the Neapolitans will be considerably changed in the front line, he thinks. Corriere dello Sport.
The Nigerian star player Victor Osimhen is in any case not bothered by Ajax. Earlier it appeared that the 23-year-old striker, good for eighteen goals in 32 games last season, has not recovered in time from his hamstring injury. The big question is who will take his place. “It could be that two or three other players are playing,” Spalletti said at the press conference, but he did not give names. “We keep that internal.”
According to Corriere dello Sport Spalletti will make changes especially in the front. Compared to last Saturday’s league victory over Torino (3-1), Giacomo Raspadori will have to clear the field. The Italian, who has been in the starting line-up for the past two matches instead of Osimhen, will be replaced by Giovanni Simeone. There is something to be said for both the Argentinian and the Italian. The former scored his first goal in the Champions League in the 4-1 win against Liverpool and was the match winner in Napoli’s win against national champions AC Milan. Raspadori then had a fruitful international match by scoring once for Italy in the Nations League against both England (1-0) and Hungary (2-0).
Simeone and the new Neapolitan crowd favorite Khvicha Kvaratskhelia are probably flanked by an old acquaintance of the Amsterdammers. Former PSV player Hirving Lozano can show himself from Spalletti on Tuesday evening. The Mexican is at i Partenopei mainly couch potato and has to make do with substitutions. He just couldn’t find it in Serie A. Lozano has made 122 appearances for Napoli so far, scoring 26 goals and providing 14 assists.
Probable Napoli line-up:
Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Kim, Mario Rui; Zambo Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Lozano, Simeone, Kvaratskhelia