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Napoli forced to use depleted squad against Cagliari

Thanks to a rash of injuries and Jorginho's yellow card suspension, Napoli will be missing five squad regulars tomorrow against Cagliari.

Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

Tomorrow we'll be seeing a very different Napoli squad than we normally do. Cagliari and Zdenek Zeman are coming to town, and Rafa Benitez will have to figure out how to patch together a side that can hold off Zeman's traditional relentless attack while trying to score a few goals of their own. This will be a stern test of Napoli's mettle, and will be fascinating to watch play out.

We know the injuries pretty well by now: Camilo Zuniga is still out with his knee sprain. Michu is still out with his ankle injury. Lorenzo Insigne will be out for months after his knee surgery. Dries Mertens will miss tomorrow and likely at least one more match after his head injury.

Further complicating matters is that Jorginho will also be out this weekend as well, after picking up a yellow card against Fiorentina and triggering a suspension for accumulation. That breaks up Napoli's best pivot pairing so far this season, meaning David Lopez will have to work with a new partner tomorrow. Let's hope that either Gokhan Inler or Walter Gargano are up for the challenge.

Who starts on the left wing is still a matter of some debate. Slotting in the in-form Jonathan De Guzman makes the most sense, but there's been a growing rumbling that the nod will go to Faouzi Ghoulam. Of course, that would mean Miguel Britos starting at left back against a Zemanlandia attack, which is far from an appetizing prospect.

As ever, the full 19-man squad available for tomorrow's match is listed below for your perusal:

Goalkeepers: Rafael Cabral, Mariano Andujar, Roberto Colombo

Defenders: Christian Maggio, Giandomenico Mesto, Henrique Buss, Miguel Britos, Raul Albiol, Kalidou Koulibaly, Faouzi Ghoulam

Midfielders: Walter Gargano, Gokhan Inler, Josip Radosevic, David Lopez, Jonathan De Guzman, Marek Hamsik

Forwards: Jose Callejon, Duvan Zapata, Gonzalo Higuain