Pressure Builds on Allegri and Tedesco as Napoli Faces Bologna
The season is barely underway, but the tension around Stadio Diego Armando Maradona already feels thick.
Massimiliano Allegri and Domenico Tedesco both walk into Sunday evening’s Serie A clash knowing the table, the form book and the noise around them are starting to bite. Napoli vs Bologna is not a title decider. It already feels like a test of nerve.
Napoli’s early wobble
Allegri’s Napoli started with authority: a clean, controlled 2-0 win away to Genoa on the opening weekend of the 2026-27 Serie A season. Since then, the wheels have juddered.
Three straight defeats across league and Champions League – against Como, Inter and Arsenal – have dragged the Partenopei down to 12th place before kick-off. The fixture list has been unforgiving; the scrutiny even less so.
The Champions League loss to Arsenal in midweek did more than dent confidence. It stripped Allegri of bodies.
Alisson Santos limped out of that game and will not be involved against Bologna. Goalkeeper Alex Meret also came off injured and cedes his place to Vanja Milinkovic-Savic between the posts. It is a significant change in a spine already under stress.
Scott McTominay remains sidelined until after the international break, so Kevin De Bruyne is again expected to shoulder creative responsibility from midfield. The Belgian should be flanked by Billy Gilmour and Stanislav Lobotka, with Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa only just back in training and still working his way towards a return in the coming weeks.
Noa Lang, left out for disciplinary reasons against Arsenal, is set to be restored to the starting XI. Antonio Vergara is also tipped to see minutes at some stage, another sign Allegri may need to lean on depth rather than stability.
Bologna still searching for a first win
On the opposite bench – or rather, in the stands – Tedesco is chasing his first competitive win as Bologna head coach.
His side finally put a point on the board with a 2-2 draw at home to Sassuolo last weekend, a small step after a difficult start. They arrive in Naples sitting 16th, still looking for a result that can jolt their season into life.
Tedesco will not be on the touchline. He is suspended for the next two rounds, leaving his staff to relay instructions as Bologna try to navigate a tricky away assignment with a thin squad.
Nadir Zortea and Artem Dovbyk are both out, and the options up front are brutally simple: Roberto Piccoli is the only senior centre-forward available. He at least comes in with confidence, having scored and celebrated in that draw with Sassuolo.
Kick-off is set for 17.00 BST, with the temperature around both clubs already far hotter than the calendar suggests.
Team news and probable line-ups
Allegri sticks with a 4-3-3, even as injuries force adjustments. Milinkovic-Savic starts in goal behind a back four of Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Marin and Leonardo Spinazzola. Gilmour, Lobotka and De Bruyne form a technically gifted midfield trio, while Matteo Politano and Lang are expected to flank Rasmus Hojlund in attack.
Napoli (4-3-3): Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Marin, Spinazzola; Gilmour, Lobotka, De Bruyne; Politano, Hojlund, Lang.
Bologna line up in a 4-2-3-1 in Naples. Lukasz Skorupski starts in goal, protected by a back four of Holm, Heggem, Arthur Theate and Miranda. Lewis Ferguson and Tommaso Pobega anchor midfield, with Federico Bernardeschi, Jens Odgaard and Nicolò Cambiaghi supporting lone striker Piccoli.
Bologna (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Holm, Heggem, Theate, Miranda; Ferguson, Pobega; Bernardeschi, Odgaard, Cambiaghi; Piccoli.
Where to watch
For supporters in the UK, this one is free-to-air. Napoli vs Bologna will be shown live on BBC Alba, and is also available online via BBC iPlayer and through DAZN.
Viewers in the USA can watch the game on Paramount+.
Two coaches under pressure, one ball, 90 minutes in Naples. Which project steadies itself first?
