Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli explained the surprising and at times confusing Carlo Ancelotti tactics against Liverpool.
It kicks off at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT), click here for the line-ups and Liveblog.
Ancelotti had already scrapped Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3 formation for a 4-4-2, but with Nikola Maksimovic starting tonight in the Champions League, it could be as a right-back in 4-3-3 or part of a three-man defence.
Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli explained the surprising and at times confusing Carlo Ancelotti tactics against Liverpool.
It kicks off at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT), click here for the line-ups and Liveblog.
Ancelotti had already scrapped Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3 formation for a 4-4-2, but with Nikola Maksimovic starting tonight in the Champions League, it could be as a right-back in 4-3-3 or part of a three-man defence.
“I wasn’t surprised, because we talked about it during the week, but the Coach wants to go with a 3-5-1-1 with Mario Rui more attacking and when defending a 4-4-1-1,” director of sport Giuntoli told Sky Sport Italia.
“The team has a lot of different characteristics, so the Coach wants to use them in the best possible way. It’s not exactly a three-man defence, but when going forward Mario Rui will push up and they’ll have three left.
“We cannot fail, there’s pressure, but that’s a fascinating situation to be in and we want to give our fans an extraordinary moment.
“Our fans are extraordinary and will be our extra man this evening, certainly.”
If it were a 3-5-2, this would be the first time Napoli have used three at the back since the Walter Mazzarri era.