Line-ups: Napoli-Lazio

By Football Italia staff

Napoli have Dries Mertens back, but are forced to give Lorenzo Tonelli his first start of the season against Ciro Immobile’s third-placed Lazio.

It kicks off at 19.45 GMT, follow the build-up and action from all three of today’s Serie A games on the LIVEBLOG.

This is a fascinating fixture between first and third, although technically Juventus are currently top after beating Fiorentina 2-0 last night.

It puts the pressure on the Partenopei to deliver, but Maurizio Sarri has an injury crisis to deal with.

Faouzi Ghoulam was on the verge of his comeback after ACL surgery when he fractured his kneecap in training, but medics are hopeful he’ll be back training again within a month.

Arkadiusz Milik is still out of action, but Mertens has managed to shake off a sprained ankle in order to start with Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon.

However, the problems are in defence, because Vlad Chiriches is a late absentee and Raul Albiol has been battling muscular problems for a few weeks now.

It leaves the only available centre-back as Tonelli, who has not played a single minute of football this season.

Former Empoli defender Tonelli has only ever played three games in a Napoli jersey, but still managed to score two goals against Pescara and Milan in January 2017.

Elseid Hysaj was also in doubt, as he skipped training on Thursday due to flu symptoms.

Lazio are without Felipe Anderson, but that was a choice from Coach Simone Inzaghi as punishment for his bad attitude in the shock 2-1 home defeat to Genoa on Monday.

It’s a special game for Immobile, who is from Naples, as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic returns from suspension to bolster the midfield and Luis Alberto celebrates his recent contract extension.

The pressures of competing in Serie A, the Europa League and Coppa Italia semi-final are starting to show, as Lazio have lost two league games on the bounce – remarkable considering they have only five defeats all season.

Lazio have not beaten Napoli since a 4-2 result here in May 2015 – the game that decided Champions League access – followed by four losses and a draw in which they conceded 15 and scored two.

Napoli: Reina; Hysaj, Tonelli, Koulibaly, Mario Rui; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Mertens, Insigne

Napoli bench: Sepe, Rafael, Maggio, Albiol, Zielinski, Diawara, Rog, Machach, Ounas

Lazio: Strakosha; Wallace, de Vrij, Radu; Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva, Parolo, Lulic; Luis Alberto; Immobile

Lazio bench: Vargic, Guerrieri, Patric, Bastos, Basta, Luiz Felipe, Caceres, Lukaku, Murgia, Nani, Caicedo

Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £9.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://www.premiersports.com/subscribenow