Francesco Calzona’s Napoli will be fighting to continue their climb up the Serie A table when they travel north to face an Empoli side desperate to escape a relegation battle.
The match between the Tuscan outfit and the Partenopei kicks off at 17.00 UK time at the Stadio Carlo Castellani in Empoli.
Napoli are keen to secure European qualification and every spot in the table counts following the guarantee of Serie A’s fifth Champions League spot. A win today would see them tie with sixth place Lazio on points.
The Partenopei cannot count on Mathias Olivera, who is out with an adductor muscle issue, and the suspended Mario Rui and Amir Rrahmani.
Empoli find themselves in the thick of a tense relegation battle at the bottom end of the table, sitting in 17th with 28 points, the same as Udinese and Hellas Verona, one ahead of Frosinone and two ahead of Sassuolo. With five teams in the mix, every single point is vital.
The Azzurri are without the injured Tyronne Ebuehi, and Ardian Ismajli is also in doubt due to a thigh muscle problem.
When these two teams met back in November, Empoli edged out a tense 1-0 win over Napoli.
Empoli vs Napoli – probable line-ups
Empoli (3-4-2-1): Caprile; Bereszynski, Walukiewicz, Luperto; Gyasi, Marin, Bastoni, Pezzella; Zurkowski, Cambiaghi; Niang.
Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Ostigard, Juan Jesus, Mazzocchi; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Politano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia.