Palladino keeps Fiorentina tactics close to his chest

Raffaele Palladino refuses to tip his tactical hand against Napoli after changes to Fiorentina, but explains his decisions for Albert Gudmundsson and Riccardo Sottil.

It kicks off at the Stadio Artemio Franchi at 17.00 GMT.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game, Venezia-Empoli and Verona-Udinese on the Liveblog.

There seems to be a tactical revamp at play here from Palladino, moving to a three-man defence and dropping Albert Gudmundsson, while Danilo Cataldi is not at 100 per cent.

Lucas Martinez Quarta and Cristiano Biraghi are not even in the squad due to imminent transfers away from Florence.

“I put out the best team I could today, the 11 that I feel could cause problems for a great team like Napoli. The lads know what they need to do,” smiled Palladino on DAZN when refusing to confirm or deny if this was a three-man defence.

“Napoli play with their midfielders and full-backs rotating positions, so we need to absorb those movements and this is how we prepared it.

“They are a very strong and intense team, very physical, so I asked my side to play with character and determination.”

Fiorentina still waiting for Gudmundsson

Gudmundsson was the big summer signing from Genoa, but seems to be struggling for fitness and looked off the pace recently, so he is benched.

“I already said a few weeks ago, Gudmundsson needs training to get back up to speed. I tried to give him as much playing time as possible lately, I spoke to him individually today too. We need his talent and are confident he will be our first reinforcement in January.”

Sottil has become a regular in the starting XI for Fiorentina in recent weeks and scored the late equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Juventus.

“Riccardo suffered at being left out, but his attitude changed in training, he realised that sacrificing himself even when off the ball is what he was missing. Now he is more of a complete player, far more unpredictable, and I am very happy with his progress,” added Palladino.

“I’ve seen a lot of progress throughout the squad, such as Comuzzo, Moreno who starts tonight, while Richardson is improving too in training.”