Newly-promoted Frosinone have the dubious pleasure of opening the 2023/24 Serie A season against defending champions Napoli. Stadio Benito Stirpe gets to host its first top-flight fixture in more than four years, with a heavily anticipated curtain-raiser falling on Saturday.
Despite masterminding Frosinone’s promotion, courtesy of a top-table finish in Serie B last term, Fabio Grosso left the club in June. Former Roma and Sassuolo boss Eusebio Di Francesco filled the vacant spot. After a two-year sabbatical, the 53-year-old returns to Serie A with minimal expectations.
A raft of summer signings at Benito Stirpe should boost Frosinone’s bid to defy the odds this season. Considered among hot candidates to suffer the drop next May, I Canarini couldn’t have hoped for a more challenging start on their top-flight return. Napoli’s visit will provide an early insight into the upcoming challenges.
Fresh off winning their first Serie A title in 33 years, Napoli come into the new season looking to become only the third side to defend the Scudetto in the 21st century. Soon after taking the Partenopei to a long-awaited success, title-winning manager Luciano Spalletti decided to take some time off.
Rudi Garcia has taken Spalletti’s place in the dugout. But the latter set the benchmark high, while Aurelio De Laurentiis couldn’t do much to improve Garcia’s chances in the summer. Kim Min-jae left Naples to join Bayern Munich, with Natan arriving from Red Bull Bragantino to take his place. Jens Cajuste has come in to boost the midfield options.
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Frosinone
Di Francesco’s wealth of coaching experience in Serie A could be Frosinone’s best chance of avoiding swift relegation. Raucous support at Benito Stirpe could be another significant factor. I Canarini excelled on home turf en route to conquering Serie B last term, racking up an eye-catching 14 wins from 19 home league outings (D3, L2).
However, they might have to overcome a psychological barrier to upset the odds here, having gone winless in their last nine meetings with Napoli (D2, L7). Despite his undeniable coaching prowess, Di Francesco may not be the man to inspire Frosinone to an unexpected win. He has only won two of his 13 previous managerial clashes against Napoli (D4, L7).
Player to Watch: Giuseppe Caso
Following Samuele Mulattieri’s departure in the summer, all eyes will be on last season’s second-best Frosinone performer Giuseppe Caso. The 24-year-old forward played a starring role in his team’s promotion campaign, netting nine goals, seven of which came after halftime.
Napoli
After a long summer dominated by wild speculation linking headline performer Victor Osimhen with several top European clubs, Napoli can draw confidence from fending off numerous foreign suitors. Despite struggling in the incoming market, keeping hold of the Nigerian superstar is a resounding success.
With Osimhen leading the line, Napoli will take the field seeking another quick-fire Serie A start. Garcia’s men have won their opening league fixture across the last six seasons. Garcia possesses the means to an end, having gone unbeaten in all five previous managerial encounters against Di Francesco (W2, D3).
Player to Watch: Victor Osimhen
It’s needless to say that Osimhen will hug the spotlight on Saturday. To put his massive contribution to Napoli’s long-overdue Serie A triumph into context, his top-scorer-award record of 26 goals accounted for 34% of the team’s Serie A total.
Team News
Frosinone stayed injury-free during a relatively brief pre-season. Sergio Kalaj and Karlo Lulic are minor doubts. However, both players should make the matchday squad, though it’s more likely they’ll start on the bench.
On the other hand, prodigious Napoli forward Gianluca Gaetano won’t make the traveling squad due to injury. There’s a question mark over Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s head. If the Cameroonian fails to recover in time, Cajuste could register his Serie A debut.
Frosinone vs Napoli Potential Lineups
Frosinone (4-3-3): Stefano Turati; Riccardo Marchizza, Simone Romagnoli, Ilario Monterisi, Anthony Oyono; Francesco Gelli, Abdou Harroui, Lucca Mazzitelli; Giuseppe Caso, Jaime Baez, Gennaro Borrelli.
Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Mathias Olivera, Amir Rrahmani, Leo Ostigard, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Stanislav Lobotka, Jens Cajuste, Elif Elmas; Matteo Politano, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Victor Osimhen.
Frosinone vs Napoli Prediction
Frosinone maintained their aura of invincibility at home with a narrow 1-0 home win over Pisa in the opening Coppa Italia round last weekend. However, they must punch well above their weight to keep the points in the capital. It’s hard to imagine Napoli slipping at the first hurdle.
Prediction: Napoli Win
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