As if all the personal and team problems with which he has been forced to confront for some time were not enough, Rino Gattuso must now also deal with Covid which in a single day, on the eve of the difficult and delicate commitment of tomorrow night in Marassi with Genoa, he took away two elements of the defense, Koulibaly and Ghoulam, both found positive albeit asymptomatic.
In short, Napoli loses the pieces and inevitably the coach will be forced to have to give up at least one of the defense pivots, the department that is giving him the greatest satisfaction and that with the 19 goals conceded is currently second only to Juventus at 18. . Koulibaly will be absent in Genoa and will also have to renounce his next engagements, including those of the Italian Cup, next Wednesday in Bergamo with Atalanta in the return of the semifinal, and probably also that of the Europa League on 18 February in Spain with Granada, first leg of the round of 16.
In place of the Franco-Senegalese in Marassi, Maksimovic will certainly take the field alongside Manolas.
Ghoulam could have represented a valid alternative to Mario Rui and possibly to Hysaj on the left side of the defensive grid, but he too will be forced to remain at the post as long as Covid continues to manifest itself.
Gattuso to face Genoa is oriented to use the 4-3-3 again, a module that since he was forced to give up at the same time as Mertens and Osimhen has given him the greatest guarantees.
Zielinski will therefore be asked to stay on the line of the other two midfielders, Bakayoko and Elmas, and to push forward to support the strikers only when the opportunity arises.
At least at the start, Insigne will be missing, both because in the last few days he has trained little due to a resentment in a calf, residual of the commitment in the Italian Cup with Atalanta last Wednesday, and because he needs to breathe a little after the heavy workload it has been subjected to in recent times.
The attack will therefore see protagonists Politano, Petagna and Lozano, moved to the left wing.
It is certain, however, that Gattuso will also play a piece of the game in Osimhen who, after two months' absence due to a shoulder injury and Covid, has not yet regained full athletic form.
The Nigerian, however, needs to play to recover the condition and the coach will certainly send him on the field in the second half.
Probable formations of Genoa-Naples.
Genoa (3-5-2): 1 Perin;
55 A.Masiello, 21 Radovanovic, 4 Criscito;
77 Zappacosta, 20 Strootman, 47 Badelj, 11 Behrami, 99 Czyborra;
23 Right, 9 Scamacca.
(32 Paleari, 22 Marchetti, 25 Onguene, 5 Goldaniga, 17 Portanova, 24 Melegoni, 88 Lu.Pellegrini, 16 Zajc, 18 Ghiglione, 65 Rovella, 37 Pjaca, 19 Pandev).
Coach: Ballardini.
Disqualified: none.
Don't trust: Badelj, Destro, Ghiglione, A.Masiello.
Unavailable: Biraschi, Cassata, Shomurodov, C. Zapata,
Naples (4-3-3): 25 Ospina;
22 Di Lorenzo, 44 Manolas, Maksimovic, 6 Mario Rui, 7 Elmas, 5 Bakayoko, 20 Zielinski;
21 Politano, 37 Petagna, 11 Lozano.
(1 Meret, 16 Contini, 23 Hysaj, 33 Rrahmani, 19 Maksimovic, 4 Demme, 68 Lobotka, 8 Ruiz, 9 Osimhen, 24 L. Insigne, 58 Cioffi).
Coach: Gattuso.
Disqualified: none.
Be wary: none.
Unavailable: 31 Ghoulams, 14 Mertens.
Referee: Manganiello di Pinerolo.
Snai odds: 5.00;
3.85;
1.65.