Napoli vs AC Milan Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News & Key Stats

Napoli will host AC Milan in a Serie A clash on Sunday evening, looking to continue their recent winning run.

Napoli are currently fourth in the Serie A table, but they are unbeaten in five of their last six league matches heading into the game against AC Milan. They managed to bounce back from the defeat against Fiorentina with a comfortable away win against Hellas Verona.

The Partenopei will now look to build on that performance and grind out a positive result in front of their fans at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. Meanwhile, AC Milan are second in the league table and will look to close the gap with crosstown rivals Inter Milan, who play earlier in the day, with a win here.

AC Milan are coming into this game on the back of a defeat against Juventus, and they will look to bounce back strongly with a positive performance here. The Rossoneri have done quite well against Napoli away from home in recent years, and they will look to extend that run of form here.

Team News & Tactics

Napoli

The home side will be without star striker Victor Osimhen and Juan Jesus because of injuries. AC Milan are likely to shape up in a 4-3-3 formation, with Alex Meret in goal.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Mario Rui will be deployed as the full-backs. They will look to contribute at both ends of the pitch. Amir Rrahmani and Natan will be deployed as the central defenders.

Stanislas Lobotka will start as the central defensive midfielder, and he will look to break up the opposition attacks and protect the central defence. Jens Cajuste and Piotr Zielinski will start in the central midfield as well. The two players will look to add creativity and control to the side. Giacomo Raspadori will lead the line for Napoli, with Matteo Politano and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on either side of him.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Natan, Rui; Cajuste, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Raspadori, Kvaratskhelia

AC Milan

The visitors have a number of injury problems heading into this game. Marco Sportiello, Samuel Chukwueze, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ismael Bennacer, and Mattia Caldara are all ruled out with injuries. Malick Thiaw was sent off against Juventus, and he is suspended for this game.

The away side are likely to line up in a 4-3-3 formation as well, with Mike Maignan in goal. Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez will be deployed as the full-backs. The two players will look to protect the central defence and help out in the attack. Pierre Kalulu will start alongside Fikayo Tomori at the heart of the defence.

In the middle of the park, Yacine Adli will start alongside Yunus Musah and Tijjani Reijnders. The three players will look to keep things compact in the middle of the park and break up the opposition attacks. Olivier Giroud will lead the line for AC Milan, with Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao on either side of him.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Musah, Adli, Reijnders; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao

Key Stats

Player to Watch

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

The 22-year-old Georgian has done quite well in Serie A this season despite the threat of considerable drop in form, scoring three goals and picking up three assists in just seven starts thus far.

He will look to create goalscoring opportunities with his pace and trickery from the wide areas. Kvaratskhelia will look to get on the scoresheet as well. He has contributed to 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 outings for club and country and will look to extend that run.

Prediction

Napoli 2-2 AC Milan

Both teams are quite evenly matched, and this is likely to be a thrilling contest. They will certainly fancy their chances of picking up all three points against each other, and it will be a closely fought affair. It could be hard to separate the two teams here, and they are likely to cancel each other out. A high-scoring draw is on the cards this week.

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