Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella will be aware that his side can't afford a defeat when they host Napoli on Sunday.

Viola have won just two out of their last seven Serie A fixtures to leave them five points below Napoli and 12 points off the pace in Italy's top flight.

After seeing his team lose 3-1 to Sampdoria last weekend, Montella made mass changes for the Europa League match with PAOK, and although they could only draw with the Greek outfit, Montella has options for the weekend.

On-loan defender Micah Richards may miss out to Manuel Pasqual at right-back, while David Pizarro could be handed a start further forward.

As for Napoli, a 2-0 victory over Roma has moved Rafael Benitez's team up to fifth place to leave them within touching distance of the top three.

Gli Azzurri followed that up with a comfortable success over Young Boys on Thursday night to leave them in control of their Europa League group.

Benitez will recall several of the players that he rested in midweek, with Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon, who both netted against Roma, in line to start in Florence.

Recent form

Fiorentina: WDWLD

Napoli: LWDWW

Possible starting lineups

Fiorentina: Neto, Pasqual, Rodriguez, Savic, Marcos Alonso, Aquilani, Borja Valero, Cuadrado, Ilicic, Pizarro, Babacar

Napoli: Rafael, Britos, Maggio, Abidol, Ghoulam, Hamsik, David Lopez, Jorginho, Higuain, Jose Callejon, Insigne

Sports Mole says: 1-1

Previews by email