Cagliari-Napoli has always been a thrilling match for the Rossoblu fans, but today at 6:30 PM there will also be extra motivation for Sebastiano Esposito. The striker served his suspension in Pisa for a highly contested yellow card (which was deemed a simulation following a clear foul on him by Ramón) against Como and returns to Fabio Pisacane's squad, who immediately puts him at the center of the attack. He's from Castellammare di Stabia, but has never played for the Neapolitans: his former players will be Michael Folorunsho, Neapolitan Gianluca Gaetano, and Elia Caprile, who has just been called up to the national team, while Leonardo Pavoletti, fresh from his first goal of the season, will be on the bench. Also in attack, Gennaro Borrelli is not back, having been in retreat with the Rossoblu since Wednesday .
The left flank needs to be reinvented for Cagliari-Napoli. Riyad Idrissi's season is already over due to a serious knee injury two weeks ago, and Adam Obert is suspended following his sending off last Sunday. Pisacane should therefore deploy Marco Palestra, recently called up (for the first time) by Italy for the World Cup playoffs , with Gabriele Zappa on the right. Alessandro Deiola is also expected to start, as anticipated in the press conference ; Luca Mazzitelli (a change from Pisa) is expected to be the other midfielder. In defense, Zé Pedro will be joined by Yerry Mina and Alberto Dossena.
Here are the probable lineups for Cagliari-Napoli: kick-off is at 6:30 PM , with Maurizio Mariani of the Aprilia section as the referee . The match will be available to follow live on unionesarda.it and on Radiolina with live commentary.
Cagliari (3-5-1-1): Caprile; Zé Pedro, Mina, Dossena; Folorunsho, S. Esposito. Coach: Pisacane.
Napoli (3-4-2-1): Meret; Beukema, Buongiorno, Mathias Olivera; Politano, McTominay, Gilmour, Spinazzola; De Bruyne, Alisson Santos; Højlund. Coach: Conte.