Serie A 2019/20: Napoli vs Lecce – tactical analysis

It was another huge disappointment for Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli after they secured the victory on Juventus and Sampdoria. In this round of Serie A, they played against Lecce at the Sao Paulo. And, even though starting a strong team, they failed to gain any point to reduce the margin with AC Milan.

In this tactical analysis, we will show you how Lecce beat Napoli. It is an analysis that focuses on tactics.

Lineups

Napoli started in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Kalidou Koulibaly returned to the starting lineup and partnered with Nikola Maksimović; Giovanni Di Lorenzo returned to the right-back position; Stanislav Lobotka was pushed to an advanced position as Diego Demme started as a sole pivot. It was the first start for Matteo Politano at Napoli.

Fabio Liverani’s team played in a 4-3-3 formation, with the exact same team in the win against Torino. The midfield trio was formed by Alessandro Deiola, Žan Mejer and Antonín Barákm; Gianluca Lapadula, Riccardo Saponara and Fillipo Falco were the front three.

Zonal defence of Lecce

In this game, Lecce did not press high to disrupt Napoli’s build-up, they only pressed when they managed to force Napoli to go to the flanks and saw a predictable pass.

Politano started ahead of José Callejón on the right flank. However, given to the limit of a left-footed player, when he dropped to receive the ball, his closed body orientation made him difficult to see where the opponent was coming.