Conte warning: ‘Napoli believe in Scudetto, but we struggled with Parma’
Antonio Conte confirms Napoli have not lost hope of the Scudetto, but also warns they ‘always had trouble with Parma’ and expect a very tough test today.
It kicks off at the Stadio Tardini at 14.00 UK time (15.00 CEST).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.
The Partenopei are in second place after five consecutive victories and want to keep the pressure on leaders Inter, who face a tricky trip to Como this evening.
Conte keeps Napoli options open
“We need the right mentality, which is that we have an objective of Champions League qualification to achieve,” Conte told DAZN Italia.
“We are second right now, it is inevitable we will look not only over our shoulders, but also at those in front of us. Naturally, those in front have their fate in their hands.”
Rasmus Hojlund missed the 1-0 victory over Milan with a stomach bug, but has made a full recovery and starts here with Scott McTominay and Kevin De Bruyne.
However, David Neres, Antonio Vergara, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani and Romelu Lukaku are still out of action.
“We must have patience and quality when we’re on the ball, to break down those blocks and find the spaces. We worked on that a lot in training, how to get through those small spaces. Balance is essential, as sometimes you can pour too many men forward and leave yourselves open to lethal counter-attacks.”
In theory, this is a kind weekend for Napoli, because Inter are up against high-flying Como this evening, while Milan suffered a heavy 3-0 home defeat to Udinese.
However, Conte is eager to point out that Parma have proved themselves a tricky obstacle.
“This is one of the seven remaining games, so whatever result we get, we’ll be in a similar situation next week. What I can say is that in my two years at Napoli, we always had trouble with Parma.
“We drew 0-0 here last season, then 0-0 at home earlier this term. We have struggled to score goals against them, so I expect this to be a tough test,” warned Conte.
