Napoli concede five goals in three games as defence becomes the priority

Napoli have conceded five goals in three matches, exactly as many as they have scored, and sit twelfth with just 3 points after Genoa, Como and Inter. On the eve of their Champions League opener against Arsenal, the problem is clear: the defence.

The same centre-back pairing has started all three games: Rafa Marín and Amir Rrahmani. The Spaniard mixes duels won with real character against what those inside the club call lapses in concentration, serious enough to have opened the door to Inter's comeback. Rrahmani, forced to cover extra ground to compensate for his teammates, has had his own lapses too.

At San Siro, Allegri tried to react mid-match by bringing on Benoît Badiashile — his first appearance in a Napoli shirt — to reinforce the back line. The Frenchman looked like a fish out of water, clashing with Thuram in an incident already replayed in recent days.

Long-term absences add to the picture: Alessandro Buongiorno is out until at least December, and Luca Marianucci is still sidelined. Sam Beukema, however, is close to returning — though a starting shirt for him is expected later, during the league fixtures with Bologna and Fiorentina before the international break, not on Wednesday.

There is a plan, but not for Arsenal

Allegri is weighing a deeper change for the league: Giovanni Di Lorenzo as one of three centre-backs, with Costantino Favasuli ready to debut as a right-sided wing-back. But that shape is built with Serie A matches in mind — against Arsenal, this is not the moment to experiment.

It is easy to see why. The Gunners arrive at the Maradona as last season's Champions League finalists and with three wins from three in the Premier League. Against Chelsea they already showed they can shift shape in attack — Havertz, Saka and Tzolis wide, with Odegaard behind the lone striker — in a comeback in that very match. An attack that adapts game by game, facing a defence that has conceded five in its last two outings: with kick-off at 21:00 CET (20:00 UK, 15:00 ET) on Wednesday at the Maradona, there is no room for mistakes.

And here is the question the club's supporters cannot avoid: after Como and Inter, Allegri's answer for the season's most delicate night so far is to stick with the same eleven that has already conceded five goals in two games, leaving any serious fix for the league. It may be the cautious choice. But after a start like this, caution and continuity risk looking too much like the same question the team has yet to answer.