Sampdoria vs. Napoli: Serie A lineups, match discussion, and surprises

Surprises abound in these lineups, as both teams made several unexpected decisions for their starting XI.

For Napoli, Faouzi Ghoulam is getting pushed up to the left wing with Marek Hamsik returning to his stronger central role, putting Jonathan De Guzman and Dries Mertens on the bench. This forces Miguel Britos to step in at left back, which... blech. Whatever. Jorginho is also being rested today, with Gokhan Inler partnering David Lopez in midfield.

For Sampdoria, Manolo Gabbiadini is headed to the bench as Sinisa Mihajlovic trots out what looks suspiciously like a diamond midfield, with Roberto Soriano at its tip and Eder partnering Stefano Okaka. It's a fairly large departure from Samp's usual 4-3-3, and it will be interesting to see how it plays.

Sampdoria: Romero; De Silvestri, Silvestre, Romagnoli, Mesbah; Rizzo, Palombo, Obiang; Soriano; Eder, Okaka

Napoli: Rafael; Maggio, Albiol, Koulibaly, Britos; Inler, David Lopez; Callejon, Hamsik, Ghoulam; Higuain

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