Napoli v. AC Milan: Lineups and Match Thread

Lineups are in, and Rafa Benitez has made a pair of changes from his midweek Coppa Italia lineup. Most notable is that Jose Callejon is on the bench after looking increasingly worn down over the last few matches. Belgian sensation Dries Mertens is starting in his place on the right wing. You'd imagine that he and Lorenzo Insigne will be swapping places often, though maybe not with the fluidity that you see when those two are paired with Callejon.

Making his starting debut tonight is Faouzi Ghoulam, who steps in to the lineup in place of the injured Anthony Reveillere. Ghoulam had a strong performance stepping in for the Frenchman against Roma, and should hopefully stabilize the left back position for Rafa's squad, which has been a problem all season. Henrique Buss is also available on the bench for the first time, having apparently cleared up whatever paperwork issues he was having back home. Valon Behrami is also on the bench again after a late cameo against Roma midweek.

For Milan, several changes have been forced by illness and injury. Mario Balotelli returns from his suspension, but Kaka and Keisuke Honda are both missing out due to separate illnesses, though Kaka is available from the bench if needed. That means debuts for Adel Taraabt and Michael Essien, who were both added in the January transfer window. Essien was greeted with open arms by Milanistas, but the loan of Taraabt was seen much more skeptically by the fans. He'll have the opportunity to change their minds today, but he'll likely have to do it quickly before they turn on him. More AC Milan information can always be found at fellow SBN blog The AC Milan Offside.

Lineups:
Napoli: Reina; Maggio, Fernandez, Albiol, Ghoulam; Inler, Jorginho; Mertens, Hamsik, Insigne; Higuain.

Milan: Abbiati; De Sciglio, Mexes, Rami, Emanuelson; De Jong, Essien; Abate, Taarabt, Robinho; Balotelli

The match will start shortly at 8:45 PM CET/2:45 PM EST. Television coverage will be on Sky Calcio 1 in Italy, BT Sport 2 in the UK, and beIN Sports in America. Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live on Twitter. If you haven't already, join the community on the Siren’s Song, and join in the discussion below!