Overview
Less than half a month, any hope of creating a surprise against Napoli's Manchester City was dashed when Giovanni Di Lorenzo received a red card for fouling Erling Haaland.
In a losing match, coach Antonio Conte was forced to take Kevin De Bruyne off to reinforce the defense, but Napoli still could not hold back. After the break, Haaland broke the deadlock before Jeremy Doku scored a beautiful solo goal, ending a 0-2 defeat on Napoli's return to the Champions League.
However, Napoli is still maintaining stability in Serie A. They defeated Sassuolo, Cagliari and most recently Fiorentina - where De Bruyne directly opened the score. unbeaten in 15 Serie A matches since February, Napoli also won 6/7 of their most recent matches at Diego Armando Maradona and only conceded 4 goals during this period.
Returning to "fortress" Maradona, Conte's team understands that stumbling against rookie Pisa will be unacceptable, because their biggest ambition is still to successfully defend the Serie A throne.
Now, when traveling to Napoli to participate in the first match between the two teams in 35 years, Pisa must not forget the last time they visited this stadium and lost 1-2. One of the goalscorers was the legendary Diego Maradona.
More than 3 decades later, the stadium named after Maradona will become a huge challenge for Alberto Gilardino and his team. Facing the reigning Serie A champions, Pisa clearly has more hope than expectations.
Having returned to Serie A this season, Pisa has only won 1 point after 3 rounds. The only goal they have so far has also come from Atalanta's own goal. After a draw against La Dea on the opening day, Pisa suffered 0-1 defeats against Roma and Udinese, showing a thorny start.
In the immediate future, they will have to stretch themselves in the Coppa Italia against Torino, then enter the Tuscan derby with Fiorentina. But first, Pisa's arduous journey will have to go through the mountain named Napoli.
Personnel situation
After keeping the same lineup for the away trip to England, it is still unclear whether Conte will make any changes.
First goalkeeper Alex Meret is likely to be fit enough to return to the goal. At the Etihad, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic has made many excellent saves, but Meret is still the top choice if he fully recovers.
Up front, Lorenzo Lucca could replace Rasmus Hojlund, while Romelu Lukaku continues to be absent for a long time due to a thigh injury. In defense, center back Amir Rrahmani has not been able to return after a hamstring injury.
After his lackluster performance in Manchester, De Bruyne will be determined to leave his mark, while captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo will also aim to make amends after a devastating red card.
On the other side, Pisa has almost full force. Veteran defender Juan Cuadrado has recovered from a muscle injury and is likely to be on the bench.
However, Alberto Gilardino still has a headache in scoring, as his strikers have not scored once this season. Even in Coppa Italia, Pisa only beat Cesena thanks to a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw.
In that context, Henrik Meister or Stefano Moreo could have to give up the starting position to M'Bala Nzola. The Angola striker is expected to bring a new breeze to Pisa's attack.
Expected lineup:
Napoli: Meret, Di Lorenzo, Beukema, Jesus, Spinazzola, lobotka, Politano, Anguissa, De Bruyne, McTominay, Lucca.
Pisa: Semper, Canestrelli, Caracciolo, Bonfanti, Toure, Aebischer, Akinsamiro, Angori, Moreo, Tramoni, Nzola.
The match between Napoli and Pisa takes place at 1:45 am on September 23 (Vietnam time).
