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Napoli lacking defenders against Chievo Verona

Injuries and suspensions have left Napoli's back line sorely depleted against Chievo.

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Sure, it's "just" Chievo Verona, but it's still going to be a long match. Why? Napoli are down several defenders, including Kalidou Koulibaly.

The Frenchman is suspended for yellow card accumulation, and after being limited in training all week thanks to minor injuries, both Henrique and Giandomenico Mesto are left out of the squad as well. That leaves Napoli with just five defenders in the matchday squad, and one of those is a primavera kid in Sebastiano Luperto who has yet to play a single senior minute. Yay.

Maybe Roberto Colombo can play center back in a pinch.

The rest of the squad is in pretty good shape, though, with only the usual long-term absences to note. Faouzi Ghoulam is still at AFCON - he and Algeria play their quarterfinal against the Ivory Coast on Sunday - and each of Camilo Zuniga, Lorenzo Insigne, and Michu are all still out injured.

The full 19 man matchday squad named for this match is listed below:

Goalkeepers: Rafael Cabral, Mariano Andujar, Roberto Colombo

Defenders: Christian Maggio, Miguel Britos, Raul Albiol, Sebastiano Luperto, Ivan Strinic

Midfielders: Jorginho, Gokhan Inler, Walter Gargano, David Lopez, Dries Mertens, Jonathan De Guzman, Marek Hamsik

Forwards: Jose Callejon, Manolo Gabbiadini, Duvan Zapata, Gonzalo Higuain