NAPOLI UNDER PRESSURE AGAIN AS THEY FACE INTER MILAN

Serie A champions Napoli already have fault lines starting to emerge in their title defence as they prepare to host in-form Inter Milan on Saturday after being thumped by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
The 6-2 reverse upset in the Netherlands on Tuesday was fully merited for Napoli, and came after the weekend shock loss at Torino which permitted AC Milan to take pole position in Italy's premier division.

Both Inter and Napoli are level on 15 points with Roma, with the three one point adrift of Milan who kick off the weekend's activity with the visit of lowly Pisa on Friday night.
Antonio Conte was scathing about his players' performance on Tuesday, the hot-headed coach insisting supporters "shouldn't be taken the piss out of" as he launched into a lengthy rant to reporters who witnessed his team getting embarrassed at the Philips Stadion.

"I've been saying for some time now that we need to swallow a little humble pie, there are some 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 are going to build something that can make Naples proud we need to regain the spirit that we had last year when there weren't any personal goals, there wasn't any egoism, there was one vision, and that was Napoli."

Conte has not been helped by an early glut of injuries to key players in the campaign, 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 Inter trip, a timely boost to Conte given the Denmark striker's fine form since signing from Manchester United on transfer deadline day.

But bigger problems remain as last season's player of the year Scott McTominay struggles to find his top form since the signing of Kevin De Bruyne, a recruitment that has brought world class talent and a midfield conundrum.

McTominay, who scored both of Napoli's goals on Tuesday, has been forced to the left of a midfield four, limiting the Scotland international's chances to burst into the box and get on the end of things as he did so regularly last season.

While Napoli were being ripped apart Inter were strolling to their seventh win on the spin in all competitions, a 4-0 thrashing of Union Saint-Gilloise doing little to highlight the riches at the disposal of coach Cristian Chivu.
France striker Marcus Thuram's absence since early October has not slowed Inter, with his countryman Ange-Yoan Bonny and young Italy international Pio Esposito providing the type of attacking depth that was sorely missing when Inter poorly defended their title last season.
"They had to erase the disappointment of last season. Sometimes that pain can play tricks on you but the lads have been great," Chivu said in a press conference on Tuesday.

Juventus coach Igor Tudor is under the cosh for Sunday night's game at Lazio after a 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid stretched the winless run of the Turin giants to seven matches.