Monza – Napoli: preview
We describe the lineups for the Monza and Napoli match in the ninth round of Serie A 2026/27.
Monza
1. Monza tries to extract the maximum from every match
Monza, even with a great desire, cannot be criticized too much. For the team that has gone through the clean-up in Serie B, seven points in eight rounds and the intermediate 15th place in the standings is a fairly functional situation. The pleasant victories over Sassuolo (2:1) and Cagliari (4:0) did not go unnoticed, and in the last round the "brancoli" managed a small comeback against the strong home of Torino (2:3). The match was played under the dictatorship of the Turin team, although the "blanco‑rojos" offered some good moments and managed not to lose by much.
2. Varilla in wild order, Mota, Mangash and Robinson help
There are home losses, but they are not serious. The defenders in development, Yan Ziolowski and Ivan Maié, as well as Matteo Pessina, are unavailable, and Pessina will not be available until the end of the pre‑season. The driving force of Ivan Yurchi’s team this season is striker Gustavo Varilla. The young Portuguese has performed well last season at "Jil Vicente", the first time in his career he moved to one of the top five leagues and has started here with eight productive actions in seven matches, leading the goal‑scoring race with seven goals. For some reason, the Portuguese diaspora at Monza continues to deliver the best performance. It is the useful Danni Mota and Ricardo Mangash, and although Jay Robinson is English, he also knows how to appear at the right time and place.
3. At home Monza plays with more confidence
The "brancoli" this season have played 10 official matches, of which home matches are much more promising than away ones. In "Ju‑Power" from the start of the season, Monza has played four times, won three of them and only lost against Udinese in a separate match (2:3), and in six away matches the "blanco‑rojos" lost four times, drew with Parma without teeth (1:1) and beat Torino in the Italian Cup (1:0).
Napoli
1. Napoli Allegri seems more a detective than a football club
Allegri can be loved or hated, and this season definitely the latter prevails. Under the direction of Max "patenopé", still dreaming of imposing competition on Inter, they started with three wins in eight Serie A rounds and a win in three Champions League group rounds. The last two matches of the guests were, at least, entertaining: first 4:3 with the inflexible Norwegian "Bude‑Glimt", which Napoli clearly underestimated, and then a chaotic 3:3 with Roma. In the game with Wolfsburg, the "azules" managed to lead twice, lose the lead twice, and Masimiliano Allegri would not be himself if he had not left his players without direction, receiving a disqualification for two meetings.
2. Half of the defensive line in the break room, Maktoiney and De Bruyne added
The injured players in the guest team are many and the problems, mostly, have focused on the defensive line. Among those not ready to go onto the field are Leonardo Spinazzola, Amir Rrahmani, Alessandro Buonfiglio, Benou Badaishil, Allison Santos, Costantino Favasi and David Neres. However, it is not necessary to resort to youth if Matías Oliveira, Rafa Marin, Sam Beckham, Luca Marzannucci and Giovanni Di Lorenzo are still in the squad. Recently, Scott Maktoiney has recovered, and the conflict with Kevin De Bruyne has also been partially resolved, so Napoli will not be left without advancing the ball.
3. With Monza the blues are usually easy In the 21st century, Napoli has faced the "brancoli" only six times and has not felt special difficulties. Napoli managed to win four of the six matches, once allowed a goalless draw and once lost in the Champions season when in round 35 with an incredible start there was not much motivation, and Monza went quite strong. In three of the six matches, the Neapolitans scored at least twice, and in four kept their goal‑mouths clean.
Approximate formation 3-4-2-1-4-3-3-1-4
Ternkvist 44, Carboni 3, Lukeczi 2, Goglichidze 7, Mangash 14, Aksanmiro 8, Foé Onda 19, Birindelli 46, Robinson 47, Mota 9, Varilla 1, Meret 22, Di Lorenzo 16, Zamora 31, Bókeha 17, Oliveira 99, Zambo‑Anissa 11, De Bruyne 8, Maktoiney 21, Politano 19, Hoi Lun 70, Lang
Trend betting
In six of the last seven matches of the team they could not exchange marked balls. OZ — not 2.17. In four of the last five personal encounters the team could not score more than two balls. TM 2.5 for 2.11
Forecast
Monza vs Napoli 28.10.2026 23:45
Monza feels good after returning to the elite and has settled in 15th place. Ivan Yurchi’s team acts with a lot of confidence, allows opponents to enjoy dominance and try various offensive options, but resists thanks to Gustavo Varilla and his goal‑mouths.
Napoli is still sad. Allegri acts recklessly and with the uncontrollable characteristic, so in the next two matches the team will go without him. Scott Maktoiney and Kevin De Bruyne woke up on time, although there is still a number of variables for a complete mechanism.
At home Monza can resist. Napoli has no problems in games with the "brancoli", but now we meet the weakest version of the blues in recent times, while the "blanco‑rojos" recently brutally broke the "Cagliari" (4:0).
Prediction: 1-1
