This morning’s test came back negative: the Brazilian will miss the Scudetto showdown

Antonio Conte has become all too accustomed to bad news by now. David Neres hasn’t recovered from the ankle injury he sustained in the closing minutes of last week’s match against Lazio and will miss tomorrow’s game against Inter at San Siro. The Brazilian had already been held out of the midweek match against Verona, and after that game, the coach had hinted at the possibility of having him back for the head-to-head clash in Milan. “Maybe he’ll be back,” he had said. Unfortunately for Napoli, those hopes have been dashed.

Given his unavailability, Conte would have had only two options: start Lang from the opening whistle, as he did last matchday, or try out a two-striker formation with Lucca in the starting lineup. Certainly, such a delicate match against Inter isn’t the time for experimentation, and in the first leg, Neres—deployed as a false nine—had indeed thrown the Nerazzurri defense off balance. So, in all likelihood, the Dutchman will get another chance to convince the coach, who isn’t currently very satisfied with his performance. Alongside Lang, Elmas will play behind Hojlund. The midfield will feature Spinazzola and Politano on the wings, with Lobotka and McTominay in the center. Milinkovic-Savic will start in goal, protected by Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, and Juan Jesus, who edged out Buongiorno for the starting spot. Mazzocchi returns to the bench after serving his suspension.