Serie A probable line-ups: Napoli vs. Lazio
NAPLES, ITALY - APRIL 18: Kevin De Bruyne of SSC Napoli during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and SS Lazio at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on April 18, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)
Serie A leaders Lazio are forced to do without Mattia Zaccagni, but rely on Davide Frattesi and Gustav Isaksen, while Napoli hope Kevin De Bruyne, Scott McTominay and Rasmus Hojlund can end the crisis.
It kicks off at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples on Sunday at 11.30 GMT (12.30 CET).
Few expected the two teams to be in their current position going into the season, as Gennaro Gattuso’s Lazio are alone three points clear at the top of the table, where Max Allegri is facing calls for his dismissal after a series of poor results, including the 4-1 Champions League defeat to FC Porto.
The injury crisis keeps on getting worse for Napoli, as Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Leonardo Spinazzola, Stanislav Lobotka, Benoit Badiashile, David Neres, Alisson Santos, Costantino Favasuli and Alessandro Buongiorno are ruled out.
Luca Marianucci is also suspended following his red card in last week’s 2-0 Serie A defeat to Juventus, with Mathias Olivera not at 100 per cent.
This leaves extremely limited options, so Allegri has two major choices to make over his tactical set-up.
It’s possible he could use a 3-5-2 with McTominay or De Bruyne pushed into a more advanced role in support of lone striker Hojlund, placing Matteo Politano and Antonio Vergara as the wing-backs.
Another alternative is getting Olivera on the left, with Vergara on the right, then using Noa Lang as the support for Hojlund, which would place both De Bruyne and McTominay in midfield.
Lazio have been without Albert Gudmundsson for several weeks, but the new absentee is captain Zaccagni with a thigh injury.
This does force a change for Gattuso, so Tijjani Noslin is expected to shuffle over into that wide role, leaving the centre-forward position to Andrea Pinamonti.
There are also some concerns over Nuno Tavares, who is struggling with a muscular issue, so Alfonso Pedraza is ready to step in if required at left-back.
Frattesi should take the midfield reins with Reda Belahyane and Kenneth Taylor, the only doubt is between Oliver Provstgaard and Diogo Leite in defence.
Napoli: Meret; Beukema, Rrahmani, Marin; Vergara, De Bruyne, Gilmour, McTominay, Olivera; Lang, Hojlund
Lazio: Mandas; Floriani Mussolini, Sutalo, Provstgaard, Nuno Tavares; Frattesi, Belahyane, Taylor; Isaksen, Pinamonti, Noslin
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.