Pressure Mounts on Allegri and Tedesco as Napoli Faces Bologna
The season has barely started and already the tension is thick around the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Massimiliano Allegri and Domenico Tedesco walk into Sunday evening’s Serie A clash knowing the table, the form book and the mood music are all starting to turn against them. The game kicks off at 17.00 BST and will be free-to-air in the UK on the BBC – a big stage for two coaches who could do without the spotlight.
Allegri searching for a reset
Allegri’s Napoli began the 2026-27 campaign with exactly the kind of statement he wanted: a solid 2-0 win away at Genoa. Since then, the wheels have started to wobble.
Three straight defeats across Serie A and the Champions League – against Como, Inter and Arsenal – have dragged the Partenopei down to 12th place and dented the early optimism around the new project. The performances have come in a tough run of fixtures, but the table will not care if the slide continues.
Napoli’s problems have not been helped by injuries and absences. Scott McTominay is out until after the international break, so Kevin De Bruyne is expected to continue as the heartbeat of the midfield. Billy Gilmour should slot in alongside him and Stanislav Lobotka in a three that will be asked to dictate and protect in equal measure.
There is at least a hint of good news on the horizon. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa has returned to training and could be back in the coming weeks, while highly rated Antonio Vergara is tipped to feature at some stage against Bologna, adding fresh legs and a different rhythm between the lines.
The bad news is more immediate. Alisson Santos is unavailable after picking up an injury in the Champions League defeat to Arsenal. Noa Lang, left out of that game for disciplinary reasons, is expected to be restored to the starting XI and asked to provide the spark and edge Napoli badly lacked in midweek.
There is also a change in goal. Alex Meret came off injured against Arsenal, so Vanja Milinkovic-Savic will step in between the posts, protected by a back four of Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Amir Rrahmani, Marin and Leonardo Spinazzola.
Up front, the burden again falls on Rasmus Hojlund, flanked by Matteo Politano and Lang in what should be an aggressive 4-3-3.
Probable Napoli XI (4-3-3): Milinkovic-Savic; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Marin, Spinazzola; Gilmour, Lobotka, De Bruyne; Politano, Hojlund, Lang.
Tedesco still chasing first win
On the other bench, Tedesco is still waiting for his first competitive victory as Bologna head coach.
His side at least got off the mark last weekend, drawing 2-2 at home with Sassuolo to claim their first point of the season. It was a step forward, but not enough to lift them clear of danger: Bologna arrive in Naples sitting 16th, still looking fragile and still searching for a convincing 90 minutes.
To make matters worse, Tedesco will not even be on the touchline. The coach is suspended for the next two rounds of fixtures, leaving his staff to steer the team through one of the most intimidating away days in the league.
He will also be without key options. Nadir Zortea and Artem Dovbyk are out, stripping Bologna of depth at both ends of the pitch. Up front, that leaves Roberto Piccoli as the only senior centre-forward available – and the man who scored in the draw with Sassuolo will have to shoulder the attacking load almost alone.
The likely shape is a 4-2-3-1, built around a double pivot designed to absorb Napoli’s pressure and spring counters.
Probable Bologna XI (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; Holm, Heggem, Theate, Miranda; Ferguson, Pobega; Bernardeschi, Odgaard, Cambiaghi; Piccoli.
Big stage, big questions
The match carries weight far beyond the early-season standings.
For Allegri, it is a chance to halt a three-game losing streak, calm the noise and show that his Napoli can blend the quality of De Bruyne, the running of Hojlund and the width of Lang into something coherent and ruthless.
For Bologna, it is about survival instincts and identity. Can they dig in without their coach on the sideline and without key players, or does the evening in Naples expose deeper problems?
With the cameras rolling on BBC Alba, streaming on BBC iPlayer and DAZN, and coverage in the USA on Paramount+, this is not the kind of game either Allegri or Tedesco can afford to let drift.
Something has to give.
