Napoli – Siena mini preview

By: Neil | December 6th, 2008

Because of Napoli’s difficult away schedule in November, and our 95th minute slip up the last home came against Cagliari, the Siena game becomes much more important than it normally would be. While Napoli should be winning most home games against teams lower in the standings, this one in particular becomes a must win game.

Siena is enjoying a great spell right now, having picked up 10 points from their last 5 games. Overall, they sit in 12th place in Serie A with a record of 5-4-5 for 19 points. However, as is common in football, most of their success has been at home, where they are still undefeated and have conceded only 2 goals in 7 matches. For an in depth look at Siena, visit Matthew’s blog at the Siena Offside.

Notable players on Siena include keeper Gianluca Curci, who was displaced at Roma by Alexandre Doni. Curci has been capped 21 times by the Azzurrini, and was once regarded as the most promising young Italian portiere. There is also midfielder Daniele Galloppa, who has been frequently scouted by Napoli for a possible move in the January market. Here is an interview with defender Daniele Portanova who talks about Siena’s confidence this season.

For the Partenopei Edy Reja has a full squad to choose from, with the only doubt defender Matteo Contini. I haven’t been able to find out exactly what’s wrong with him, but given his performance against Cagliari I don’t mind Aronica getting a few games in, even though he really isn’t much better. It’s been confirmed that Santacroce will play Sunday even though he had the flu earlier this week. And German Denis will almost certainly start alongside Lavezzi.

Napoli probable lineup: Iezzo – Santacroce, Cannavaro, Aronica – Maggio, Blasi, Gargano, Hamsik, Mannini – Denis, Lavezzi

Finally, there is an interesting story emerging from tutto mercato web: the Slovenian football federation apparently wants Reja to be Slovenia’s next manager. Reja is from Gorizia, which is pretty close to the Slovenian border, and the article mentions that Slovenia is his “favourite vacation land.” Also, I’ve seen Reja referred to as an Italian-Slovenian. It’s plausible that after more than four seasons at Napoli, Reja could make a smooth transition to lead Slovenia.

Here are the previews from Channel 4 and goal.com

The best way to watch this game is a live internet stream. Forza Napoli!