Napoli have Marek Hamsik and Allan back in the starting XI, but Sampdoria hitman Fabio Quagliarella tries to set a new all-time Serie A record.

It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 17.00 GMT.

You can follow all the action as it happens from today’s three Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.

Napoli have Marek Hamsik and Allan back in the starting XI, but Sampdoria hitman Fabio Quagliarella tries to set a new all-time Serie A record.

It kicks off at the Stadio San Paolo at 17.00 GMT.

You can follow all the action as it happens from today’s three Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.

The Partenopei need to shake off some recent disappointments, as in their back-to-back encounters with Milan, they managed only a Serie A draw and 2-0 Coppa Italia quarter-final exit.

Carlo Ancelotti has Hamsik back in the starting XI for the first time in 2019 after he recovered from injury problems, although there are also reports the captain could be heading towards China.

Allan returns too, his first start since the Paris Saint-Germain failed transfer swoop, while Lorenzo Insigne and Arkadiusz Milik lead the attack, moving Dries Mertens to the bench.

Raul Albiol is not 100 per cent fit, so Nikola Maksimovic steps into the centre-back role.

Sampdoria are flying high this season and pushing for a place in Europe, as they sit in sixth place, only two points adrift of the Champions League spots.

Much of that is down to Quagliarella, who has already equalled Gabriel Batistuta’s 1994 record by finding the net in 11 consecutive Serie A appearances.

If he scores again today – against his hometown club – then it’ll be a new all-time record, achieved two days after his 36th birthday.

It’s always an emotional moment when he is back in Naples, as only revealed years later that he was forced to flee the club in 2010 due to a stalker nightmare that he kept secret.

He is partnered today by Gregoire Defrel and Gaston Ramirez, with another former Napoli player Manolo Gabbiadini on the bench.

Dennis Praet is suspended, with Gianluca Caprari, Jacopo Sala and Edgar Barreto injured.

Sampdoria beat Napoli 3-0 at Marassi, but haven’t won home and away in a single season since 1997-98. The Blucerchiati managed just two draws and eight defeats at the San Paolo in Serie A since a 2-0 result in April 1998.

Napoli: Meret; Hysaj, Maksimovic, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Callejon, Allan, Hamsik, Zielinski; Insigne, Milik

Napoli bench: Ospina, Karnezis, Ghoulam, Luperto, Malcuit, Albiol, Diawara, Verdi, Mertens, Ounas

Sampdoria: Audero; Bereszynski, Colley, Andersen, Murru; Linetty, Ekdal, Jankto; Ramirez, Quagliarella, Defrel

Sampdoria bench: Belec, Rafael, Tonelli, Ferrari, Vieira, Tavares, Mpie, Saponara, Trimboli, Gabbiadini

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