The Japan Times - Napoli's title defence creaking ahead of clash with rivals Inter

Tuesday's 6-2 defeat in the Netherlands was fully deserved for Napoli, and came after last weekend's shock loss at Torino which led to AC Milan taking top spot in Italy's top flight.

Both Napoli and Inter are locked on 15 points alongside Roma, with that trio a point behind Milan who kick off the weekend's action with the visit of lowly Pisa on Friday night.

Antonio Conte was scathing about the efforts of his players on Tuesday, the combustible coach saying supporters "shouldn't be taken the piss out of" in a long rant to reporters who witnessed a humiliation at the Philips Stadion.

"I've been saying for some time that we need to eat some humble pie, some people are trying to blow smoke in the eyes of Napoli supporters but this is a fan base that needs to be told the truth," said Conte.

"If we're going to build something that can make Naples proud we need to rediscover the spirit that we had last season when there were no personal goals, there was no egoism, there was one vision, and that was Napoli."

Conte has not been helped by a series of injuries in the opening weeks of the season, including a serious thigh problem for Romelu Lukaku, whose replacement Rasmus Hojlund was also missing in Turin and Eindhoven.

Hojlund will be back for the visit of Inter, a boost for Conte given the Denmark striker's fine performances since signing from Manchester United on transfer deadline day.

But bigger problems remain as last season's player of the year Scott McTominay struggles for his best form following the arrival of Kevin De Bruyne, a signing which has brought both world class talent and a midfield conundrum.

McTominay, who scored both of Napoli's goals on Tuesday, has been shunted out to the left side of a midfield four, limiting the Scotland international's ability to charge into the box to get on the end of chances as he did so often last season.

While Napoli were being ripped apart Inter were strolling to their seventh straight win in all competitions, a 4-0 thumping of Union Saint-Gilloise highlighting the depth of talent at coach Cristian Chivu's disposal.

The absence of France forward Marcus Thuram since the start of October hasn't slowed Inter down, with his countryman Ange-Yoan Bonny and promising Italy international Pio Esposito providing the sort of attacking back-up that was sorely missed during Inter's failed title defence last term.

"They had to put behind the disappointment of last year. Sometimes that pain can play games with you but the boys have been brilliant," said Chivu on Tuesday.

The pressure is on Juventus coach Igor Tudor ahead of Sunday night's clash at Lazio, with a 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid leaving the Turin giants without a win in seven matches.

Player to watch: Riccardo Orsolini

Bologna continue to punch above their weight under Vincenzo Italiano and a large part of that is down to Orsolini, who has had a blistering start to the season.

Orsolini has already scored six times in all competitions this term and will be the key attacking threat for coach Italiano who takes on his struggling old team Fiorentina on Sunday evening.

Bologna are three points behind Milan in fifth and the difference between Italiano's team and Fiorentina could barely be bigger, with the Viola sat in the relegation zone without a win in seven league matches.

Key stats

3 - Inter, Napoli and Roma all trail Milan by one point

7 - Inter's all-competitions winning streak

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

AC Milan v Pisa (1845)

Saturday

Parma v Como, Udinese v Lecce (1300), Napoli v Inter Milan (1600), Cremonese v Atalanta (1845)

Sunday

Torino v Genoa (1130), Verona v Cagliari, Sassuolo v Roma (1400), Fiorentina v Bologna (1700), Lazio v Juventus (1945)

Y.Watanabe--JT